Egypt and Babylon from sacred and profane sources ..

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PRINCETON, N. J.

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Egypt and Babylon

SACRED AND PROFANE SOURCES

EGYPT AND BABYLON

FROM

SACRED AND PROFANE SOURCES

BY

/
GEORGE RAWLINSON, M. A.

CAMDEN PROFESSOR OK ANCIENT HISTORY, OXFORD; CANON OF
CANTERBURY CATHEDRAL

NEW YORK

CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS

188.5

GRANT & PAIRES,
PHILADELPHIA.

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CONTENTS

CHAPTER I.
Notices of Babylon in the Book of Genesis, . . i

CHAPTER II.
Notices of Babylon in the Books of Kings and

Chronicles, 13

CHAPTER III.
Further Notices of Babylon in the Books of

Kings and Chronicles, 27

CHAPTER IV.
Notices of Babylon in Daniel, 40

CHAPTER V.

Further Notices of Babylon in Daniel, .... 53

CHAPTER VI.
Further Notices of Babylon in Daniel, .... 67

CHAPTER VII.
Notices of Babylon in Jeremiah and Ezekiel, . . 82

VI

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER VIII.
Further Notices of Babylon in Ezekiel, . . . . 95

CHAPTER IX.
Further Notices of Babylon in Daniel, . . . .111

CHAPTER X.
P'urther Notices of Babylon in Daniel, . . '. .125

CHAPTER XL
Notices of Babylon in Daniel, Isaiah, Jeremiah,

AND Ezekiel, . . .138

CHAPTER XII.
Further Notices of Babylon in Isaiah and Jere-
miah, 152

CHAPTER Xlll.
Notices of Egypt in Genesis, . 165

CHAPTER XIV.
Further Notices of Egypt in Genesis, 180

CHAPTER XV.
Notices of Egypt in Exodus . ... 194

CHAPTER XVI.
Further Notices of Egypt in Exodus, ..... 208

CHAPTER XVII.
Notices of Egypt in Exodus and Numbers, . ' . . 222

CHAPTER XVIII.
Further Notices of Egypt in Exodus, 236

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER XIX. PAGE

Notices of Egypt in the First Book of Kings, . . 250

CHAPTER XX.
Notices of Egypt in the Second Book of Kings, . 263

CHAPTER XXI.
Notices of Egypt in Isaiah 276

CHAPTER XXII.
Notices of Egypt in Jeremiah and Ezekiel, . . . 290

CHAPTER XXIII.
Notices of Egypt in Daniel, 304

CHAPTER XXIV.
Further Notices of Egypt in Daniel, 317

EGYPT AND BABYLON.

CHAPTER I.

NOTICES OF BABYLON IN THE BOOK OF GENESIS.

" Cush begat Nimrod : he began to be a mighty one in the earth. He
was a mighty hunter before the Lord : wherefore it is said, Even as
Nimrod, the mighty hunter before the Lord. And the beginning of
his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the
land of Shinar." — Gen. x. 8-io.

That this passage refers to Babylon will scarcely be
disputed. The words " Babel " and " Shinar " are
sufficient proof. " Babel," elsewhere generally trans-
lated "Babylon" (2 Kings xx. 12; xxiv. i ; 2 Chron.
xxxii, 31 ; xxxiii. II ; Ps. cxxxvii. I, etc.), is the exact
Hebrew equivalent of the native Babily which appears
as the capital of Babylonia in the cuneiform records
from the time of Agu-kak-rimi (about B.C. 2000)
to the conquest of the country by Cyrus (b.c. 538).
" Shinar " is probably an equivalent of " Mesopotamia,"
" the country of the two rivers," and in Scripture

BAB YL ON AND EGYPT.

always designates the lower part of the Tigris and
Euphrates valley, the alluvial plain through which the
great rivers flow before reaching the Persian Gulf

Four facts are recorded of Babylonia in the pas-
sage: — I. That it became at a very early date a settled
government under a king ; 2. That it contained, besides
Babylon, at least three other great cities — Erech,
Accad, Calneh ; 3. That among its earliest rulers was
a great conquering monarch named Nimrod ; and 4.
That this monarch, and therefore probably his people,
descended from Cush — i.e.^ was a Cushite, or Ethio-
pian.

The first of these facts is confirmed by Berosus, by
Diodorus Siculus, and by the monuments. Berosus
declared that a monarchy had been set up in Babylon
soon after the flood, which he regarded as a real oc-
currence, and counted 208 kings from Evechoiis, the
first monarch, to Pul, the predecessor of Tiglath-Pileser.
Diodorus believed that Babylon had been built by
Semiramis, the wife of Ninus, at a date which, accord-
ing to his chronology, would be about B.C. 2200. The
monuments furnish above ninety names of kings ante-
rior to Tiglath-Pileser, and carry back the monarchy
by actual numerical statements to B.C. 2286, v/hile the
super-position of the remains is considered by the
explorers to indicate an even greater antiquity. An
early Babylonian kingdom, once denied on the author-
ity of Ctesias, js now generally allowed by historians ;
the researches of Sir Henry Rawlinson, Mr. George
Smith, Professor Sayce, Mr. Pinches, and others,

NOTICES IN GENESIS.

having sufficiently established the fact previously-
questioned.

The second fact — the early existence of several
large cities in Babylonia, cities ranking almost upon a
par — is also strongly supported by the native records.
In the most ancient times to which the monuments go
back, the chief cities, according to Mr. George Smith,^
were Ur, Nipur, Karrak, and Larsa, all of them met-
ropolitan, and all of them places giving their titles to
kings. Somewhat later, Babylon and Erech rose to
greatness, together with a city called Agade, or Accad,
according to the same authority.^ If this last identi-
fication be allowed, then three out of the four cities
mentioned in Genesis as metropolitan at this early
date will have the same rank in the native records,
and one only of the four names will lack such direct
confirmation. Certainly, no name at all resembling
Calneh occurs in the primitive geography of Baby-
lonia. There are, however, grounds for regarding
Calneh as another name of Nipur,^ and one which
superseded it for a time in the nomenclature of the
inhabitants. In this case we may say that all the four
cities of Genesis x. lo are identified, and shown to
have had (about b. c. 2000) the eminence ascribed to
them in that passage. Mr. George Smith's reading of
" Agade " is, however, questioned by some, who read

^"History of Babylonia" (edited by Rev. A. H Sayce), ch. iii., pp.
63-74.

2 Ibid., p. 61.

'Smith's "Dictionary of the Bible," advoc. Calneh.

BAB YL ON AND EG YPT.

the name " Agane." If this latter reading be correct,
the city Accad must be regarded as at present not
identified.

The third fact — the reign of a powerful king, called
Nimrod, over Babylonia has not as yet received any
confirmation from the monuments. It is suspected
that the monarch so called had two names, and that,
while Scripture uses one of them, the Babylonian
documents employ the other. Mr. George Smith pro-
posed to identify the scriptural Nimrod with a certain
Izdubar, a semi-mythical, semi-historical personage,
very prominent in the primitive legends. But the
identification is a pure conjecture. The monuments
must be regarded as silent with respect to Nimrod,
and we must look elsewhere for traces of his existence
and authority. Such traces are numerous in the
traditions of the East, and among the early Jewish and
Arabic writers. Josephus tells us that Nimrod lived
at the time when the attempt was made to build the
Tower of Babel, and represents him as the prime mover
in that impious enterprise. The Mohammedans have
a tradition that he lived somewhat later, and was
brought into contact with Abraham, whom he
attempted to burn to death in a furnace of fire. In
Arabian astronomy he appears as a giant who at his
decease was translated to heaven, and transformed into
the constellation which the Arabs called El Jabbar,
" the Giant," and the Greeks Orion. These tales have,
of course, but little value in themselves ; they are
merely important as showing how large a space this

NOTICES IN GENESIS.

monarch occupied in the imaginations of the Eastern
races, a fact only to be accounted for by his having once
filled a prominent position. That position is declared
in the " Nabathaean Agriculture," an Arabic work of
great antiquity, to have been the position of a king
the founder of a dynasty which long bore sway over
the land. Another sign of the reality of Nimrod's
rule is to be found in the attachment of his name to
various sites in the Mesopotamian region. The
remarkable ruin generally called Akkerkuf, which lies
a little to the south-west of Baghdad, is known to
many as the " Tel-Nimrud ; " the great dam across the
Tigris below Mosul is the " Sahr-el-Nimrud ; " one of
the chief of the buried cities in the same neighbour-
hood is called " Nimrud " simply ; and the name of
" Birs-Nimrud " attaches to the grandest mass of ruins
in the lower country.^

The fourth fact — that Nimrod, and therefore pro-
bably his people, was of Cushite origin, has been
strenuously denied by some, even among modern
critics.^ But ancient classical tradition and recent
linguistic research agree in establishing a close con-
nection between the early inhabitants of the lower
Mesopotamian plain and the people, which, under the
various names of Cushites, Ethiopians, and Abyssin-
ians, has long been settled upon the middle Nile.
Memnon, king of Ethiopia, according to Hesiod and
Pindar, led an army of combined Ethiopians and Susi-

^ See Rich's "Journey to Babylon," p. 2, note.
2 See Bunsen's "Philosophy of History," vol. iii., pp. 190, 191.
I*

BAB YLON AND EG YPT.

anians to the assistance of Priam, king of Troy. Belus,
according to the genealogists, was the son of Libya (or
Africa) ; he married Anchinoe, daughter of Nilus, and
had issue yEgyptus. Names which are modifications
of Cush have always hung about the lower Mesopo-
tamian region, indicating its primitive connection with
the Cush upon the Nile. The Greeks called the
Susianians " Kissii," and a neighbouring race ** Kosssei."
The early Babylonians had a city, " Kissi," and a lead-
ing tribe in their country was called that of the ** Kassu."
Even now the ancient Susiania is known as '* Khuzis-
tan," the land of Khuz, or of the Cushites. Standing
alone, these would be weak arguments ; but weight is
lent them by the support which they obtain from the
facts of language. Sir Henry Rawlinson, the first
translator of primitive Babylonian documents, declares
the vocabulary employed to be " decidedly Cushite or
Ethiopian," and states that he was able to interpret the
inscriptions chiefly by the aid which was furnished to
him from published works on the Galla (Abyssinian)
and the Mahra (South Arabian) dialects.^

" The whole earth was of one language and of one speech. And it
came to pass, as they journeyed from the east (eastward, inarg^, that
they found a plain in the land of Shinar ; and they dwelt there. And
they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and -burn them
throughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for
mortar. And they said. Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose
top may reach unto heaven ; and let us make us a name', lest we be
scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth. And the Lord came
down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded.

^ See the author's " Herodotus," vol. i., p. 441.

NOTICES IN GENESIS.

And the Lord said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one
language ; and this they begin to do ; and now nothing will be restrained
from them, which they have imagined to do. Go to, let us go down,
and there confound their language, that they may not understand one
another's speech. So the Lord scattered them abroad from thence upon
the face of all the earth ; and they left off to build the city. Therefore
is the name of it called Babel, because the Lord did there confound the
language of all the earth ; and from thence did the Lord scatter them
abroad upon the face of all the earth." — Gen. xi. 1-9.

We have here the scriptural account of the meaning
of the name *' Babel," the primitive term which the
Greeks converted into *' Babylon," but which remains
even now attached to a portion of the ruins that mark
the site of the great city, almost in its original form.^
The etymology was not accepted by the Babylonians
themselves, who wrote the word in a way which shows
that they considered it to mean " the Gate of God."
This has been regarded by some as a contradiction of
the scriptural account; but we may reconcile the two
by supposing either that the name was first given in
scorn, and that afterwards a better meaning was found
for it, or (more probably) that the word, having
been intended by the Babylonians themselves in
the sense of " the Gate of God," was from the first
understood in a different sense by others, who con-
nected it with the " confusion " of tongues. The
word is capable of both etymologies, and may from
the first have been taken in both senses by different
persons.

^ The northernmost of the three great mounds which mark the ruins
of Babylon is called by the Arabs Babil.

8 BABYL ON AND EGYPT.

The account of the origin of the name is connected
with an historical narrative, of which the following are
the chief incidents: — i. A body of men, who had
occupied the plain of Shinar, disliking the idea of that
dispersion which was continually taking place, and
scattering men more and more widely over the earth,
determined to build a city, and to adorn it with a lofty
tower, in order that they might get themselves a name,
and become a centre of attraction in the world. 2.
The materials which they found to their hand, and
which they employed in building, were burnt brick
and " slime," or bitumen. 3. They had built their
city, and raised their tower to a certain height, when
God interfered with their work. By confounding the
language of the workmen, He made it impossible for
them to understand each other's speech, and the result
was that the design, for the time at least, fell through.
The people " left off to build the city," and the mass
of them dispersed, and ** were scattered abroad upon
the face of the earth."

It would not have been surprising if profane history
had contained no notice of this matter. It belongs
clearly to a very remote antiquity, a time anterior —
as it might have been supposed — to records, and lost
in the dark night of ages. But the fact seems to be
that the Babylonians either recorded at the time, or at
any rate bore in memory, the transaction. Two
Greek writers, who drew their Babylonian histories
from native sources, noticed the occurrence, and gave
an account of it, which is in most respects very close

NOTICES IN GENESIS.

to the biblical narrative. Alexander Polyhistor said,
that ** Once upon a time, when the whole race of man-
kind were of one language, a certain number of them
set to work to build a great tower, thinking to climb
up to heaven; but God caused a wind to blow, and
cast the tower down, at the same time giving to every
man his own peculiar speech. On which account the
city was called Babylon." Abydenus, a somewhat
later historian, treated the subject at greater length.
" At this time," he said, " the ancient race of men were
so puffed up with their strength and tallness of stature,
that they began to despise and contemn the gods, and
laboured to erect that very lofty tower, which is now
called Babylon, intending thereby to scale heaven.
But when the building approached the sky, behold,
the gods called in the aid of the winds, and by their
help overthrew the tower, and cast it to the ground.
The name of the ruins is still called Babel ; because
until this time all men had used the same speech, but
now there was sent upon them a confusion of many
and diverse tongues."

These passages have long been known, and have
been adduced as probable evidence that the native
Babylonian records contained a notice respecting the
tower of Babel and the confusion of human speech.
But it is only recently that such a record has been
unearthed. Among the clay tablets brought from
Babylonia by Mr. George Smith, and deposited in the
British Museum, is one unfortunately much mutilated,
which seems clearly to have contained the Babylonian

BAB YL ON AND EG YPT.

account of the matter. The main portions of this
document are as follows : —

" Babylon corruptly to sin went, and

Small and great were mingled on the mound ;
Babylon corruptly to sin went, and

Small and great were mingled on the mound.

* * -Jfr -x-
Their work all day they builded ;

But to their stronghold in the night

Entirely an end God made.
In His anger also His secret counsel He poured forth.

He set His face to scatter ;
He gave command to make strange their speech ;

Their progress He impeded,
•jf- -x- -K- *

In that day He blew, and for [all] future time

The mountain (was demolished ?) ;
Lawlessness stalked forth abroad ;

And, though God spake to them,
Men went their ways, and strenuously

Opposed themselves to God.
He saw, and to the earth came down;

No stop He made, while they
Against the gods revolted ....

* * -Sf *
Greatly they wept for Babylon ;

Greatly they wept." ^

"It came to pass in the days of Amraphel, king of Shinar, Arioch,
king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer, king of Elam, and Tidal, king of
nations, that these made war with Bera, king of Sodom, and with
Birsha, king of GomoiTah, Shinab, king of Admah, and Shemeber,
king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela, which is Zoar. All these were
joined together in the vale of Siddim, which is the salt sea. Twelve
years they served Chedorlaomer," — Gen. xiv. 1-4.

^ See "Records of the Past," vol. vii., pp. 131, 132.

NOTICES IN GENESIS.

The chief fact relating to Babylon, which this pas-
sage contains, is its subjection in the time of Abraham
to a neighbouring country called here Elam. Amra-
phel, the king of Shinar, the country whereof Babylon
was the capital (Gen. x. lo; xi. 2-9), is plainly, in the
entire narrative (Gen. xiv. 1-17), secondary and sub-
ordinate to Chedorlaomer, king of Elam. The con-
quered monarchs "serve" Chedorlaomer (ver. 4), not
Amraphel ; Chedorlaomer leads both expeditions, the
other kings are ** with him" (vers. 5, 17), as subordinate
allies, or, more probably, as tributaries. This is an
inversion of the usual position occupied by Babylonia
towards its eastern neighbour, of which, until recently,
there was no profane confirmation.

Recently, however, traces have been found of an
Elamitic conquest of Babylon, and also of an Elamitic
dynasty there at an early date, which show that
there were times when the more eastern of the two
countries which lay side by side upon the Lower
Tigris had the greater power, and exercised dominion
over the more western. Asshur-bani-pal, the son of
Esar-haddon, relates that in his eighteenth year (b. c.
651) he restored to the Babylonian city of Erech
certain images of gods, which had been carried off
from them as trophies of victory 1635 years previously
by Kudur-Nakhunta, king of Elam, to adorn his
capital city of Susa.^ The primitive Babylonian mon-
uments also show a second conquest of Babylon from
the same quarter, and the establishment of a dynasty

1" Ancient Monarchies," vol. i., p. 446; "Origin of Nations," p. 37.

BAB YL ON AND E G YPT.

there, which is known as " Elamite," ^ about B.C. 1600,
or a little later. This dynasty consisted of two kings,
Kudur-Mabuk and Rim-agu (a name which has been
compared with "Arioch").

It is thus evident that Elam was, in the early period
of Babylonian history, a country of about equal power
with Babylon, and one which was able from time to
time to exercise dominion over her neighbour. It
appears also that its kings affected, as one of the
elements in their names, the word " Chedor " or
" Kudur," which is believed to have meant " servant,"
— Chedorlaomer (or Chedor-Lagamer, as the word
might be transliterated) being " the servant of Laga-
mer," a Susianian god, Kudur-Nakhunta, " the servant
of Nakhunta," another god; and Kudur-Mabuk, "the
servant of Mabuk," a goddess. We may add, that
" Amar " (=Amra in " Amra-phel ") appears also as a
root in the early Babylonian titles,^ while Arioch is
perhaps identical with the name of Rim-agu (or Eri-
aku), Kudur-Mabuk's son and successor. Thus the
notice in Gen. xiv. 1-4, without being directly con-
firmed by the monuments, is in close harmony with
them, both linguistic and historical.

^George Smith's " History of Babylonia," pp. II, 74.
2 Ibid., p. 10.

CHAPTER II.

NOTICES OF BABYLON IN THE BOOKS OF KINGS
AND CHRONICLES.

Scripture is silent on the subject of Babylon through
the whole period from Genesis to Kings.^ Israel, during
the sojourn in Egypt, the wanderings in the wilderness,
the time of the Judges, and the greater part of the time
of the Kings, was never brought in contact with Baby-
lonia or Babylonians ; and Scripture, which traces the
religious history of the people of God, has therefore no
occasion to mention the southern Mesopotamian power.
Another power has interposed itself between Israel
and Babylon — the great empire of Assyria — and has
barred the path by which alone they could readily
communicate. It is not till Assyria, under the Sargo-
nidae, is seriously threatening the independence of
both countries, that a common danger brings them
together, and Babylon once more claims the attention
of the sacred historians. The first notice of Babylon
in the Books of Kings is the following : —

^The "Babylonish garment" coveted by Achan (Josh. vii. 21)
scarcely constitutes an exception.

2 13

14 BAB YL ON AND EGYPT.

*' At that time " (the time of Hezekiah's illness) '* Berodach-Baladan,
the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present unto
Hezekiah : for he had heard that Hezekiah had been sick, 'And Heze-
kiah hearkened unto them, and showed them all the house of his
precious things, the silver, and the gold, and the spices, and the precious
ointment, and all the house of his annour, and all that was found in his
treasures : there was nothing in his house, nor in all his dominion, that
Hezekiah showed them not." — 2 Kings xx. 12, 13.

The same circumstance is related, almost in the same
words, by the prophet Isaiah, in one of his historical
chapters. Isaiah says —

" At that time Merodach-Baladan, the son of Baladan, king of Baby-
lon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah ; for he had heard that he
had been sick, and was recovered. And Hezekiah was glad of them,
and showed them the house of his precious things, the silver, and the
gold," etc. — ISA. xxxix. i, 2.

The author of Chronicles, without relating the
circumstance, makes a short comment upon it. After
describing the riches, honour, and prosperity of Heze-
kiah, he adds —

" Howbeit in the business of the ambassadors of the princes of Baby-
lon, who sent unto him to inquire of the wonder that was done in the
land, God left him to try him, that he might know all that was in his
heart." — 2 Chron. xxxii. 31.

The reign of a Babylonian monarch, called Mero-
dach-Baladan, at about the period indicated — the latter
part of the eighth century B.C. — is recorded in the
famous " Canon of Ptolemy," which assigns him the
years between B.C. 722 and B.C. 710. That the same
monarch, after being deprived of his throne, was

NOTICES IN KINGS AND CHRONICLES. 15

restored to it, and had a second reign of six months'
duration, is related by Alexander Polyhistor, the friend
of Sulla.^ This latter reign appears to have belonged
to the year B.C. 703. So much is known to us from
the classical writers. From the Assyrian monuments
we learn that the relations between Babylonia and
Assyria, during the reign of Merodach-Baladan, were
hostile. Sargon relates that he attacked this king,
whom he viewed as a rebel, in his first year,^ defeated
his ally, the king of Elam, and ravaged his territory,
but without coming into contact with the Babylonian
monarch himself After this, troubles elsewhere forced
him to leave Merodach-Baladan in peace for eleven
years ; but in his twelfth year he again invaded Baby-
lonia, took Babylon, and made Merodach-Baladan a
prisoner.^ Five years after this, as we learn from Sen-
nacherib's annals,^ on the death of Sargon, Babylonia
revolted. Merodach-Baladan, escaping from the cus-
tody in which he was held, hastened to Babylon, and
re-established his authority over the whole southern
kingdom. But Sennacherib at once marched against
him, defeated his forces, recovered Babylon, and drove
him to take refuge in the marshes of southern Chaldaea;
whence, after a short time, he fled across the Persian
Gulf to southern Elam, where he died in exile.

The embassy of Merodach-Baladan to Hezekiah

^Ap. Euseb. *' Chron. Can.," pars, i., c. 5. Both reigns are noticed
in a recently deciphered Babylonian tablet. (" Proceedings of the Society
of Bibl. Archaeology" for 1884, pp. 197-8.)

2 George Smith, "History of Babylonia," p. 1 1 6.

3 Ibid., p. 123. *Ibid., p. 125.

i6 BAB YL ON AND EG YPT.

falls, by Archbishop Usher's chronology, which is here
founded upon Ptolemy's Canon, into the year B.C. 713.
It would thus have taken place between Sargon's first
and second attack, very shortly before the latter. The
monuments do not mention it ; but they show that at
this time Merodach-Baladan was expecting the Assy-
rians to invade his country, was looking out for allies,
and doing his best to strengthen his position. Under
these circumstances it would be natural that he should
seek the alliance of Hezekiah, who, at the opposite end
of the Assyrian dominions, had " rebelled against the
king of Assyria, and served him not " (2 Kings xviii.
7). That he should cloak his design under the double
pretext that his object was to congratulate the Jewish
king on his recovery from a dangerous illness (Isa.
xxxix. i), and to inquire concerning the astronomical
"wonder done in the land " (2 Chron. xxxii. 31), is
intrinsically probable, being consonant with diplomatic
practice both in the East and in the West. An
astronomical marvel, such as that of the going back
of the shadow on the dial of Ahaz (2 Kings xx. 1 1 ;
Isa. xxxviii. 8), would naturally attract attention in
Babylonia, where the phenomena of the heavens were
observed with the utmost diligence from a very remote
period.

It must not be concealed that there is one important
discrepancy between the scriptural narrative and the
histoiy of Merodach-Baladan, as recorded upon the
Assyrian monuments. Merodach-Baladan is stated,
both by Isaiah and by the compiler of the Book of

NOTICES IN KINGS AND CHRONICLES. 17

Kings, to have been "the son of Baladan " — on the
monuments he is always called " the son of Yakina/'
or '' Yakin." Mr. George Smith has suggested that
Yakin was the name of the tribe whereto Merodach-
Baladan belonged ; ^ but it can scarcely be argued that
he was called " son of Yakin " on this account. Yakin
must have been a person ; and if not the actual father
of Merodach-Baladan, at any rate one of his progeni-
tors. Perhaps the true explanation is, that Yakin was
a more or less remote progenitor, the founder of the
house, and Baladan (Bel-iddina ?) the actual father of
Merodach-Baladan. By the former designation he was
popularly known, by the latter in his official comn>u-
nications.

" The Lord spake to Manasseh and to his people, but they would not
hearken. Wherefore the Lord brought upon them the captains of the
host of the king of Assyria, which took Manasseh among the thorns,
and bound him with fetters, to carry him to Babylon. And when he
was in affliction, he besought the Lord his God, and humbled himself
greatly before the God of his fathers ; and he prayed unto Him, and He
was intreated of him, and heard his supplication, and brought him again
to Jerusalem into his kingdom." — 2 Chron. xxxiii. 10-13.

It appears by this passage, i. That Manasseh, after
having provoked God h\ a long course of wicked con-
duct, was attacked and made prisoner by the generals
of a king of Assyria, who "took him among the
thorns," or rather " took him with hooks," and bound
him with fetters, and so carried him with them to
Babylon ; 2. That after having suffered captivity for

1 *• History of Babylonia," p. 1 13.

i8 BAB YL ON AND E G YPT.

a time, and repented of his wickedness, he was allowed
by the king of Assyria to quit Babylon, and return to
Jerusalem, where he was once more established in his
kingdom. Three things are especially remarkable in
this narrative : (<^) the generals of the Assyrian monarch
conduct Manasseh to their master, not at Nineveh, but
at Babylon ; (b) they bring him into the royal presence
"■ with hooks,'' and fettei^ed ; (r) by an act of clemency,
very unusual in the East, the Assyrian king pardons
him after a time, and goes so far as to reinstate him in
his government. We have to consider what light pro-
fane history throws upon these facts.

And, first, how comes a king of Assyria to hold his
court at Babylon ? Nineveh is the Assyrian capital,
and ordinarily the court is held there. If not there, it
is held at Dur-Sargina, where Sargon built himself a
palace, or at Calah (Nimrud), where were the palaces
of Asshur-izir-pal, Shalmaneser II., and Tiglath-Pileser
II. What has caused the anomaly of a transfer of the
court to the capital of another country ? The Assyrian
records fully explain this circumstance. Sennacherib,
Hezekiah's contemporary, was succeeded by his son,
Esar-haddon, who would thus be Manasseh's con-
temporary. The Assyrian monuments tell us that this
monarch inaugurated a new policy with respect to
Babylonia. Most Assyrian kings who found themselves
strong enough to reduce that country to subjection,
governed it by means of a native or Assyrian viceroy ;
and this was the plan adopted by Sennacherib, Esar-
haddon's father. But Esar-haddon, when he came to

NOTICES IN KINGS AND CHRONICLES. 19

the throne, acted differently. He assumed the double
title of " King of Assyria and Babylonia," appointed
no viceroy, but, having built himself a palace in
Babylon, reigned there in person, holding his court
sometimes at the northern, sometimes at the southern
capital. Towards the end of his life, he relinquished
Nineveh altogether to his eldest son, Asshur-bani-pal,
and contented himself with ruling the southern king-
dom from his palace in Babylon.^ The anomaly is
thus fully explained, and what once appeared a difficulty
turns out a confirmation.

What our translators intended to be understood by
the expression, " which took Manasseh among the
thorns," is perhaps doubtful. But they convey to most
minds the idea of a caitiff monarch endeavouring to
hide himself from his pursuers in a thorny brake, but
detected, and dragged from his concealment. The
words in the orisrinal have no such meanincf. D'nin
(khokhini), the term translated '' thorns," is indeed
capable of that rendering ; but it has also another
sense, much more suitable to the present context.
Gesenius ^ explains it as " instrumentum ferreum,
circulus vel hamus, in modum spinae aculeatae, quo
olim captivi figebantur, et quo Turcae suos captivos
detinent vinctos." In the singular number the word
is translated " hook " in Job xli. 2 ; and a term nearly
identical, khdkh has the same rendering in 2 Kings
xix. 28 ; Isa. xxxvii. 29 ; Ezek, xxix. 4; xxxviii. 4, etc.

^G. Smith, "History of Babylonia," pp. 141, 142.
2 "Hebrew Lexicon," advoc. mn

BABYLO .V AND EGYP T.

These passages sufficiently fix the meaning of the
phrase used in Chronicles. The captains of the king
of Assyria *' took Manasseh away with hooks " (comp.
Amos iv. 2), and having also " bound him with fetters,"
brought him into the presence of Esar-haddon.

The practice of bringing prisoners of importance
into the presence of a conquering monarch by means
of a thong attached to a hook or ring passed through
their upper or their under lip, or both, is illustrated
by the sculptures both of Babylonia and Assyria.
Sargon is seen in his palace at Khorsabad receiving
prisoners whose lips are thus perforated;^ and one of
the few Babylonian sculptures still extant shows us a
vizier conducting into the presence of a monarch two
captives held in durance in the same way.^ Cruel and
barbarous as such treatment of a captured king seems
to us, there is no doubt that it was an Assyrian usage.
To put a hook in a man's mouth, and a bridle in his
jaws (2 Kings xix. 28), was no metaphor expressive
of mere defeat and capture, but a literal description of
a practice that was common in the age and country —
a practice from which their royal rank did not exempt
even captured monarchs.

The pardon extended by Esar-haddon to Manasseh,
little consonant as it is with general Oriental practice,
agrees well with the character of this particular
monarch, whose rule was remarkably mild, and who
is proved by his inscriptions to have been equally

^See "Ancient Monaichies," vol. i., pp. 243, 292 (2d ed,).
2 Ibid., vol. iii., p. 7.

NOTICES IN KINGS AND CHRONICLES. 21

merciful on other occasions. When a son of Mero-
dach-Baladan, who had been in revolt against his
authority, quitted his refuge in Susiana, and presented
himself before Esar-haddon's footstool at Nineveh,
that monarch received him favourably, accepted his
homage, and appointed him to the government of a
large tract upon the Persian Gulf, previously ruled by
his father, and afterwards by his elder brother.^
Again, when the chief of the Gambalu, an Aramaean
tribe upon the Euphrates, after revolt, submitted him-
self, and brought the arrears of his tribute, together
with a present of buffaloes, Esar-haddon states that he
forgave him, strengthened his city with fresh works,
and continued him in the government of it.^

" Jehoiakim was twenty and five years old when he began to reign,
and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem ; and he did that which was
evil in the sight of the Lord his God. Against him came up Nebuchad-
nezzar, king of Babylon, and bound him in fetters, to carry him to Baby-
lon. Nebuchadnezzar also carried of the vessels of the house of the
Lord to Babylon, and put them in his temple at Babylon." — 2 Chron.
xxxvi. 5-7.

With this notice may be compared the following,
which relates to the same series of occurrences : —

" In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, came
Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon unto Jeinisalem, and besieged it. And
the Lord gave Jehoiakim, king of Judah, into his hand, with part of the
vessels of the house of God ; which he carried into the land of Shinar
to the house of his god ; and he brought the vessels into the treasure
house of his god." — Dan. i. i, 2.

^ "Ancient Monarchies," vol. ii., p. 188. ^Ibid., p. 191.

BAB YL ON AND EG YFT.

In these passages we have brought before us, I. The
independence of Babylon, which, when last mentioned
(2 Chron. xxxiii. 1 1), was subject to the king of
Assyria; 2. Its government by a prince named " Neb-
uchadnezzar," or, as Ezekiel transliterates the word
from the Babylonian, "Nebuchadrezzar" (Ezek. xxvi.
7) ; 3. The fact that this prince made a great expedition
into Palestine in the third year of Jehoiakim, king of
Judah, besieged Jerusalem, and took it, and made
Jehoiakim a prisoner; 4. The further fact, that he
carried off from the Jewish temple a certain portion of
the holy vessels, conveyed them to Babylon, and
placed them there " in the house of his god."

With respect to the first point, profane history
tells us by the mouth of a large number of writers,^
that towards the close of the seventh century b. c.
the Assyrian empire came to an end, Nineveh was
destroyed, and Babylon stepped into a position of
greatly augmented power and authority. The exact
date of the change is undetermined ; but it was cer-
tainly not earlier than B.C. 625, and not later than
B. c. 606. The third year of Jehoiakim seems to have
been b. c. 605. Thus the independence of Babylonia,
distinctly implied in the above passages, was beyond
all doubt difait accompli at the time mentioned.

The second point — the government of Babylonia
at this exact time by a prince named Nebuchadnezzar
or Nebuchadrezzar — is to some extent a difficulty.

^ As Herodotus (i. io6, 1 78), Polyhistor, Abydenus, the writer of the
Book of Tobit (xiv. 13), and others.

NOTICES IN KINGS AND CHRONICLES. 23

The name indeed is abundantly confirmed. Nine-
tenths of the baked bricks found in Babylonia bear
the stamp of '' Nabu-kiidurri-uztir, the son of Nabu-
pal-uzur, king of Babylon." And Berosus, Abydenus,
and Alexander Polyhistor, all give the name with
little variation. But Babylonian chronology made
Nebuchadnezzar ascend the throne, not in B.C. 605,
but in B. c. 604 ; and Berosus expressly stated that the
first expedition conducted by Nebuchadnezzar into
Syria, Palestine and the northeastern parts of Egypt,
fell into the lifetime of his father, Nabopolassar, and
preceded his own establishment on the Babylonian
throne.^ The difficulty is sometimes met by the sup-
position that Nebuchadnezzar was associated in the
kingdom by his father before setting out upon his
expedition (and association was certainly a practice
not unknown to the Babylonians) ; but the more
probable explanation is, that the sacred writers call
Nebuchadnezzar " king of Babylon," on first making
mention of him, because he became such; jus^as we
ourselves might say, " King George the Fourth re-
ceived the allied sovereigns on their visit to England
after Waterloo ; " or, ** The Emperor Louis Napoleon
was long a prisoner in the fortress of Ham ; " although
George the Fourth received the sovereigns as prince
regent, and Louis Napoleon was not emperor till
many years after his imprisonment was over.^ Or, it
may have been assumed by the Jews that the leader

1 Berosus, Fr. 14.

2 See Dr. Pusey's " Daniel," p. 400.

24 BAB YL ON AND EG YPT.

of the great expedition was the king of the people
whom he led against them, and the sacred writers
may have received no directions to correct the popular
misapprehension.

The expedition itself, and its synchronism with
Jehoiakim's third year, is generally allowed. Berosus
related, that in the last year of Nabopolassar's reign,
which by the Canon of Ptolemy was b. c. 605, he sent
his son Nebuchadnezzar to crush a revolt of the
western provinces. Nebuchadnezzar was successful,
conquered Syria and Phoenicia, and had invaded
Egypt, when news of his father's death reached him,
and forced him to return to his own capital.

The fourth point — one of comparative detail — re-
ceives very curious illustration from the Babylonian
monuments. Nebuchadnezzar is said to have placed
the holy vessels which he carried off from Jerusalem
in his temple at Babylon," " the house of his god',' and
to have " brought them into the treasure-house of Ids
godr These expressions are at first sight surprising,
considering that the Babylonian religion was poly-
theistic, that Babylon had many temples, and that the
kings, as a general rule, distributed their favours impar-
tially among the various personages of the pantheon.
It is, however, an undoubted fact that Nebuchadnezzar
formed an exception to the general rule. He was a
devotee of Merodach. He calls Merodach "his lord,"
" his gracious lord," " his maker," " the god who
deposited his germs in his mother's womb," " the god
who created him, and assigned him the empire over

NOTICES IN KINGS AND CHRONICLES. 25

multitudes of men." One of the foremost of his own
titles is " Worshipper of Merodach." He regards
Merodach as " the great lord," " the lord of lords,"
" the chief of the gods," " the king of heaven and
earth," " the god of gods." Even on the cylinders
which record his dedication of temples to other deities
it is Merodach whom he principally glorifies.^ Sir H.
Rawlinson says : " The inscriptions of Nebuchadnezzar
are for the most part occupied with the praises of
Merodach, and with prayers for the continuance of his
favour. The king ascribes to him his elevation to the
throne : ' Merodach, the great lord, has appointed me
to the empire of the world, and has confided to my
care the far-spread people of the earth ; ' * Merodach,
the great lord, the senior of the gods, the most
ancient, has given all nations and people to my care,'
etc. The prayer also to Merodach, with which the
inscriptions of Nebuchadnezzar always terminate, in-
vokes the favor of the god for the protection of the
king's throne and empire, and for its continuance
through all ages to the end of time."^

The temple of Merodach at Babylon is properly
called " Nebuchadnezzar's temple," because he com-
pletely rebuilt and restored it. It was the great temple
of Babylon, and known to the Greeks as the "temple
(or tower) of Belus." To its ruins the name of " Babil "
still attaches. Nebuchadnezzar describes his restora-
tion of it at great length in his " Standard Inscrip-

^ See " Records of the Past," vol. vii., pp. 71-78.
2 Rawlinson, "Herodotus," vol. i., p. 652 (3d edition).
3

26 BAB YL ON AND EGYPT.

tion ;"^ and his statement is confirmed by the fact that
all the inscribed bricks which have ever been found in
it bear his name. Special mention of the " treasure-
house " attached to the temple has not been found in
the Babylonian remains ; but it was probably the
building at the base of the great tower, which is
described by Herodotus as a " second temple," and
said to have contained furniture and figures in solid
gold, together with many other offerings.

2

1 See " Records of the Past," vol. v., pp. 116-120.

2 Herod., i. 1S3.

CHAPTER III.

FURTHER NOTICES OF BABYLON IN THE BOOKS OF
KINGS AND CHRONICLES.

The numerous expeditions of the Babylonians against
Jerusalem, subsequently to the first attack in b. c. 605,
receive no direct confirmation from the cuneiform
monuments, probably owing to the fact that no
general historical inscription descriptive of the events
of Nebuchadnezzar's reign has been as yet discovered.
The records of his tim.e which modern research has
unearthed, consist almost entirely either of invocations
addressed to the gods, or of descriptions and measure-
ments connected with his great works. ^ Alexander
Polyhistor, however, noticed an expedition of Nebu-
chadnezzar's into these parts, which appears to have
been that conducted in the year b. c. 597, against
Jehoiakim, whereof we have the following notice in
the Second Book of Kings : —

^ Until the year 1878, no historical inscription of Nebuchadnezzar's
had come to light. In that year a small and mutilated cylinder, giving
an account of some events belonging to his thirty-seventh year, was
purchased by the British Museum. Further reference will be made to
this cylinder in a future chapter.

27

28 BABYLON AND EG YPT.

" The Lord sent against him " (/, e. Jehoiakim) " bands of the
Chaldees, and bands of the Syrians, and bands of the Moabites, and
bands of the children of Animon, and sent them against Judah to
destroy it, according to the word of the Lord, which He spake by His
servants the prophets." — 2. Kings xxiv. 2.

Polyhistor tells us^ that the expedition was one in
which Nebuchadnezzar called in the aid of his allies,
among others, of the Median king called by him
Astibaras, who seems to represent Cyaxares. The
number of troops employed was unusually great,
amounting, according to the same authority, to ten
thousand chariots, one hundred and twenty thousand
horsemen, and one hundred and eighty thousand
infantry. These numbers imply an army gathered
from many nations, and account for the expressions,
" bands of the Chaldees, and bands of the Syrians,
and bands of the Moabites, and bands of the children
of Ammon," in the passage of Kings, as well as for
the following in Ezekiel : —

" Then the nations set against him on eveiy side from the provinces,
and spread their net over him : he was taken in their pit." — Ezek.
xix. 8.

The context of this passage shows that the monarch
intended is Jehoiakim.

On passing from the reign of Jehoiakim to that of
Jehoiachin, the author of Kings makes the following
remark : —

" And the king of Egypt came not again any more out of his land ;
for the king of Babylon had taken from the river of Egypt unto the

^ Fragm. Hist. Gr., vol. iii,, p. 229, Fr. 24.

NOTICES IN KINGS AND CHRONICLES. 29

river Euphrates all that pertained to the king of Egypt." — 2 Kings
xxiv. 7.

This remark, though interposed at this point, belongs,
so far as it bears on Babylon, to an anterior time.
The king of Egypt, the writer intends to say, did not
at this time lend any help to Jehoiakim against Nebu-
chadnezzar, did not even set foot beyond his borders,
because some years previously the Egyptians had been
worsted in an encounter with the Babylonians, and had
lost to them the whole of their Asiatic dominions —
the entire tract between the torrent {nakhal) of Egypt,
or the Wady el Arish, and the Euphrates. The event
glanced at is among the most important in the history
of the East. When Necho, king of Egypt, in b. c.
608, carried the Egyptian arms triumphantly from the
Nile valley to the Upper Euphrates, it seemed as if the
old glories of the Thothmeses and Amenhoteps
were about to be renewed, as if Egypt was about to
become once more the dominant power in western
Asia, and to throw the hordes of Asiatic invaders back
upon their own continent. A permanent advance of
Egypt, and retrocession of Babylon, at this time
would greatly have complicated the political problem,
and might seriously have checked that aggressive
spirit which was already moving Asia to attempt the
conquest of Europe. When Nabopolassar, therefore,
in the last year of his reign, sent his son Nebuchad-
nezzar to challenge Necho to a trial of strength, and
the hosts of Africa and Asia met in battle array at
the great frontier fortress of Carchemish (Jer. xlvi.
3*

30 BAB YL ON AND EGYPT.

2), the issue raised was of no small importance, being
nothing less than the question whether African power
and influence should or should not maintain itself in
Syria and the adjoining regions, should or should not
establish its superiority over the power of Asia, should
or should not step into a position which would have
brought it shortly into direct contact with the civiliza-
tion of the Greeks. The battle of Carchemish, as it
is called, decided these questions. The armies of
Nebuchadnezzar and Pharaoh- Necho met in the
vicinity of Carchemish (now Jerablus), in the fourth
year of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, which was the
accession year of Nebuchadnezzar, and contended in
a great battle, wherein ultimately the Babylonians
were victorious. The battle is prophetically, but very
graphically, described by the prophet Jeremiah : —

" Order ye the buckler and shield, and draw near to battle," he says ;
" harness the horses, and get up, ye horsemen" (or rather, "mount, ye
chariotmen "), " and stand forth with your helmets ; furbish the spears ;
put on the brigandines. Wherefore have I seen them dismayed and
turned away back ? Their mighty men are beaten down, and are fled
apace, and look not back ; for fear was round about, saith the Lord.
Ixt not the swift flee away, nor the mighty man escape ; they shall
stumble and fall toward the north by the river Euphrates. Who is
this that Cometh up as a flood, whose waters toss to and fro as
the rivers ? Egypt riseth up like a flood, and his waters are tossed to
and fro like the rivers ; and he saith, I will go up, and will cover the
earth ; I will destroy the city and the inhabitants thereof.. Come up,
ye horses ; and rage, ye chariots ; and let the mighty men come forth,
Cush and Phut that handle the shield, and Lud that handle and bend
the bow. For this is the day of the Lord God of hosts, a day of
vengeance, that He may avenge Him of His adversaries ; and the

NOTICES IN KINGS AND CHRONICLES. 31

sword shall devour, and it shall be satiate and made drunk with their
blood ; for the Lord God of hosts hath a sacrifice in the north country
by the river Euphrates. Go up into Gilead, and take balm, O virgin,
the daughter of Egypt : in vain shalt thou use many medicines ; for
thou shalt not be cured. The nations have heard of thy shame, and
thy ciy hath filled the land : for the mighty man hath stumbled against
the mighty, and they are fallen both together." — Jer. xlvi, 3-12.

A fierce struggle is here indicated, a hardly con-
tested battle, terminating in a complete defeat. Egypt
is not surprised — not taken at disadvantage. She has
ample time to call together her armed force of natives
and auxiliaries, Cush and Phut and Lud. Her
chariots are marshalled in their gallant array, together
with her horsemen and her footmen : she " rises up
like a flood," bent on conquest rather than on mere
resistance. But all is in vain. " It is the day of the
Lord God of hosts, a day of vengeance." By the river
Euphrates the mighty men stumble and fall — they are
dismayed and beaten down ; in a short time they are
compelled to fly — they " flee apace, and look not
back." The mighty man hath met a mightier ; the
forces of Asia have proved too strong for those of
Africa ; the Nile flood is swept back on its own land.

Profane history, while touching the struggle itself
only in a single sentence,^ amply signalizes the result.
With the battle of Carchemish, Babylon, for long ages
oppressed and held in subjection, springs up to notice
as an empire. Syria, Phoenicia, Palestine, hitherto
threatened alternately by Egypt and Assyria, now find
a new foe in the great city on the lower Euphrates,

^ Beros. ap. Joseph., Contr. Ap. i. 19, \ 2.

32 BAB YLON AND EG YPT.

and become fiefs of the Babylonian crown. Egypt's
attempt to recover, under the Psamatiks, the Asiatic
dominion which had been hers under the Thothmeses
and Amenhoteps, is rudely checked. Her own terri-
tory is invaded, and she becomes for a time a " base
kingdom," the subject-ally and tributary of another.
Babylon is recognized as one of the "great powers"
of Asia, sends her armies within the Cilician gates,
wastes Tyre, destroys Jerusalem, makes alliances with
Media and Lydia. The general position of affairs in
Western Asia for the next sixty years was determined
by the events of that campaign, wherein " the king of
Babylon took from the river of Egypt unto the river
Euphrates all that pertained unto the king of Egypt."

" They burnt the house of God, and brake down the wall of Jerusa-
lem, and burnt all the palaces thereof with fire, and destroyed all the
goodly vessels thereof: and them that had escaped from the sword
caiTied he away to Babylon, where they weie servants to him and his
sons, until the reign of the kingdom of Persia." — 2 Chron. xxxvi.
19, 20.

The complete destruction of Jerusalem, and trans-
fer of its inhabitants from Palestine to Babylonia,
momentous events as they were in the history of the
Jewish nation, and in that discipline of severity which
was to purge out its dross from the people of God,
and fit them to hold up the torch of truth to the
nations for another half millennium, did not greatly
attract the attention of the world at large, or even
obtain record generally at the hands of the historio-
graphers who were engaged in chronicling the events

NOTICES IN KINGS AND CHRONICLES. 33

of the time. In Babylon, indeed, it must have been
otherwise. There, if nowhere else, the final capture
and ruin of so great, so renowned, so ancient a city,
after a siege which lasted eighteen months, must
beyond a doubt have been entered upon the records,
with the view of its being handed down to posterity.
But, unfortunately, it happens that at present, as
already observed, Nebuchadnezzar's historical inscrip-
tions remain undiscovered ; and consequently we are
still deprived of such light as a Babylonian account of
the capture of Jerusalem would naturally have thrown
on the whole subject. The fragments of Berosus
might have been expected to supply the deficiency ;
but, at the best, they are scanty, and for the time of
Nebuchadnezzar they furnish nothing but a bare out-
line. They do just state that Nebuchadnezzar made
an expedition into Palestine and Egypt, carried all
before him, and, after burning the temple at Jerusa-
lem, bore away into captivity the whole Jewish people,
and settled them in different places in Babylonia;
but they give no further particulars. Not even is the
name of the Jewish king mentioned, nor that of the
general to whom Nebuchadnezzar entrusted the exe-
cution of his orders for the destruction of the city.

Direct illustration of the destruction of Jerusalem,
and captivity of the Jewish people, is therefore at
present impossible. Still history may be said to
illustrate indirectly this portion of the sacred records
by the examples which it sets forth of parallel instances.
The complete destruction of a great city by the

34 BAB YL ON AND EGYPT.

powers which conquer it is a rare event, requiring as
it does a dogged determination on the part of the
conqueror, and a postponement of immediate gain to
prospective advantage. But the complete destruction
of Nineveh, which is abundantly attested, had taken
place not very long before, and must have been fresh
in the minds of men at the time, furnishing a prece-
dent for such extreme severity, while a sufficient
motive may be discerned in the important position of
Jerusalem, and the persistency of the rebellious spirit
in its inhabitants.

Transplantations of conquered nations are unknown
in modern warfare, and scarcely belong to the history
of the West. But in the East they were common
anciently, and are still not wholly unknown. The
Kurds, who protect the northeastern frontier of Persia
against the raids of the Turkomans, were transported
thither by Nadir Shah, after a revolt in Kurdistan,
being thus transferred from the extreme west almost
to the extreme east of his empire. Sargon trans-
ported the Samaritans to Gozan and Media; Senna-
cherib carried off 200,000 Jews from Judaea; Esar-
haddon placed Elamites, Susianians and Babylonians
in Samaria. Darius Hystaspis brought the nation of
the Paeonians from Europe into Asia Minor,'^ removed
the Barcaeans to Bactria^ and the Eretrians to Arde-
ricca, near Susa.^ The forcible removal of large
populations from their native countries to a remote
region was a portion of the system under which great

* Herod., v. 17. 2 ibid., iv. 204. ^ Ibid., vi. 119.

NOTICES IN KINGS AND CHRONICLES. 35

empires were administered in the oriental world from
the time of Sargon downwards, and was regarded as
especially suited for the case where a race distin-
guished itself by persistence in revolt.

" It came to pass in the seven and thirtieth year of the captivity of
Jchoiachin, king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the seven and
twentieth day of the month, that Evil-Merodach, king of Babylon, in
the year that he began to reign, did lift up the head of Jehoiachin, king
of Judah, out of prison ; and he spake kindly to him, and set his throne
above the thrones of the kings that were with him in Babylon; and
changed his prison garments : and he did eat bread continually before
him all the days of his life." — 2 Kings xxv. 27-29.

Evil-Merodach was mentioned as the son and suc-
cessor of Nebuchadnezzar by Berosus and Abydenus.
His name has also been found on no fewer than eleven
Babylonian contract tablets, and is transliterated by
the best authorities, *' Avil-Marduk." There can be
no doubt of the position of this king in the Babylo-
nian list between Nebuchadnezzar and Neriglissar, or
Nergal-sar-uzur. As Jehoiachin was carried captive to
Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar in the eighth year of his
reign (2 Kings xxiv. 12), and Nebuchadnezzar reigned
forty-three years, according to Berosus, Ptolemy, and
the tablets — commencing his reign in B.C. 605, and
ending it in B.C. 562 — the "seven and thirtieth year
of the captivity of Jehoiachin " would exactly coincide
with the first regnal year of Evil-Merodach, which
was B.C. 561.

The mild treatment of a rebel, whom Nebuchad-
nezzar had kept in durance for so many years, was

36 BAB YL ON AND EGYPT.

perhaps regarded by the Babylonians as a wrongful
departure from their customs. At any rate, we learn
from Berosiis that within two years of his accession
Evil-Merodach was put to death by his subjects, on
the charge of ruling in a laivlcss and intemperate
fashion. As Jehoiachin " did eat bread continually
before Evil-Merodach all the days of his (i.e. Jehoia-
chin's) life," we must suppose that he died within less
than two years from his release. He would have been
at the time between fifty and sixty years of age.

" Those that had escaped from the sword canied he" {i.e. Nebu-
chadnezzar) " away to Babylon, where they were servants to him and his
sons until the reign of the kingdom of Persia ; to fulfil the woi'd of the
Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her sab-
baths ; for as long as she lay desolate she kept sabbath, to fulfil t/ure-
score and ten years r — 2 Chron. xxxvi. 20, 21.

The statement that the Israelites " were servants to
Nebuchadnezzar and Ids sons " is at first sight contra-
dictory to the Babylonian history, as delivered to us
by profane authors. According to them, Nebuchad-
nezzar was succeeded by one son only, viz., Evil-
Merodach, after whom the crown fell to a certain
Neriglissar, or Nergal-sar-uzur, who was not a blood
relation. Neriglissar, however, had married a daughter
of Nebuchadnezzar, and having thus become a son-in-
law, may conceivably be termed a " son." He was
succeeded by his own son, Laborosoarchod, probably a
grandson of Nebuchadnezzar, who would come under
the term '* son " by the ordinary Hebrew usage. The
successor of Laborosoarchod was, we are told, " in no

NOTICES IN KINGS AND CHRONICLES. 37

way related" to the family of Nebuchadnezzar. There
are some reasons, however, for believing that he, too,
married a daughter of the great monarch ; so that he,
too, may have been regarded as " a son " in the same
sense with Npriglissar.

The seventy years of the captivity, during which the
land lay waste, and *' enjoyed its sabbaths," may be
counted from different dates. In this place the year
of the final destruction of Jerusalem seems to be taken
as the tenniiuis a quo. This was B.C. 586, the nine-
teenth year of Nebuchadnezzar (2 Kings xxv. 3-8 ;
Jer. lii. 6-12), and the passage would therefore seem
to point to B.C. 516 as the termination of the captivity
period. Now B.C. 516, the sixth of Darius Hystaspis,
was, in fact, the close of the period of depression and
desolation, so far as the temple was concerned (Ezra
vi. 15). But the personal captivity, the desolation
of the land through loss of inhabitants, both began
and ended earlier. Jeremiah evidently intended his
" seventy years " to count from the first capture of
Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar (Jer. xxv. 1-12), which
was in B.C. 605 ; and Daniel must have counted from
the same date when he felt, in B.C. 538, that the time
of release was approaching (Dan. ix. 2). It is ques-
tionable, however, whether the full term of the pro-
phetic announcement, thus understood, was actually
reached. If Nebuchadnezzar carried away his first
captives from Jerusalem in B.C. 605, and Cyrus issued
his edict for the return in his first year (2 Chron.
xxxvi. 22; Ezra, i. i), which was b. c. 538, the seven-
4

38 BAB YLON AND EG YPT.

tieth year had certainly not then commenced. Even
if the captives did not take immediate advantage of
the edict, but made the journey from Babylonia to
Palestine in the year following the proclamation, b. c.
537, which is not improbable, still the captivity had
not endured seventy years, but only sixty-eight. It is
usual to meet the difficulty by the supposition that
the first year of Cyrus in Scriphire is really the third
year from his conquest of Babylon, Darius the Mede
having been made viceroy of Babylon under Cyrus
during the first two years after the conquest. This
is, no doubt, a possible explanation. But it is perhaps
as probable that the round number "seventy," in the
prophecy of Jeremiah, was not intended to be exact,
but approximate, and that the actual duration of the
captivity fell short by a year or two of the threatened
period.

That " the reign of the kingdom of Persia " imme-
diately succeeded to that of Babylon, which was
swallowed up by the great Aryan power within seventy
years of the accession of Nebuchadnezzar, is declared
with one voice by the classical historians, and has been
recently confirmed by more than one native document.
Two inscriptions, brought from Babylonia within the
last decade, describe the circumstances under which
the great empire of Babylon collapsed before the
arms of Cyrus the Great, and was absorbed into his
dominions. The details of the subjection will have to
be considered hereafter, when we comment on those
passages of Scripture which treat directly of the fall of

NOTICES IN KINGS AND CHRONICLES. 39

the city. At present we desire simply to note the con-
firmation by the monuments of the Persian conquest,
effected by Cyrus the Great, in the seventeenth year
of Nabonidus, which was the sixty-eighth year after
the accession of Nebuchadnezzar and his first capture
of Jerusalem/

^ See the Transactions of the Society of Biblical Archeology, vol. vi.,
pp. 47-61.

CHAPTER IV.

NOTICES OF BABYLON IN DANIEL.

The history of the chosen people during the period of
the Babylonian captivity is carried on in a book which
we are accustomed to regard as prophetical, but in
which the historical element decidedly preponderates.
The first six chapters of Daniel contain a continuous
and most important narrative. The scene of the
history has been transferred from Jerusalem to Baby-
lon. We are introduced into the court of the great
King Nebuchadnezzar, and shown his grandeur, his
pride, his cruelty, his relentings, his self-glorification,
his punishment. We find the Jews his captives,
scattered in various parts of his territories (ch. ix. 7),
without organization or national life, a mere herd of
slaves, down-trodden and oppressed for the most part.
At the court, however, it is different. There four
Jews, of royal, or at any rate noble blood, occupy a
position of some importance, take rank among the
courtiers, hold communication with the monarch, and
are called upon to advise him in circumstances of
difficulty (ch. i. 17-20). After a time they rise still
higher in the king's favour, and are promoted to some
40

NOTICES IN DANIEL. 41

of the chief governmental offices in the kingdom (ch.
ii. 48, 49). One, the writer of great part of the book,
if not even of the whole, becomes the very first person
in the kingdom next to the king, and lives and prospers
under four monarchs, called respectively, Nebuchad-
nezzar, Belshazzar, Cyrus, and Darius. We have thus
a considerable body of Babylonian history in this
(so-called) prophetical book ; and numerous points
present themselves on which some illustration of the
history from profane sources is possible.

Let us take, first, the character of Nebuchadnezzar's
court. It is vast and complicated, elaborate in its
organization, careful in its etiquette, magnificent in its
ceremonial. Among the most important personages
in it are a class who profess to have the power of
expounding dreams, and generally foretelling future
events by means of magic, sorcery, and astrology (ch.
ii. 2, 10, 27, etc.). Next to these are the civil admin-
istrators, " princes, governors, captains, judges, treas-
urers, councillors, sheriffs, and rulers of provinces "
(ch. iii. 2), who are specially summoned to attend in
full numbers on certain grand occasions. The king is
waited on by eunuchs, sometimes of royal descent, who
are subjected to a three years' careful training, and
are under the superintendence of a ''master of the
eunuchs," who is an officer of high position (ch. i. 3-5).
The monarch has, of course, a " body-guard," which is
under the command of a " captain " (ch. ii. 14), another
high official. Music is used at the court in ceremo-
nials, and is apparently of an advanced kind, the bands
4*

42 BAB YLON AND EG YP T.

comprising performers on at least six different musical
instruments (ch. iii. 5, 7, 10, etc.).

The Babylonian and Assyrian remains amply illus-
trate most of these particulars. Magic holds a most
important place in both nations, and the monarchs
set a special value on it. Their libraries contained
hundreds of tablets, copied with the utmost care, on
which were recorded the exorcisms, the charms, the
talismans and the astronomical prognostics, which had
come down from a remote antiquity, and which were
implicitly believed in. The celestial phenomena were
constantly observed, and reports sent to the court from
the observatories, which formed the groundwork of
confident predictions.^ Eclipses were especially noted,
and, according to the month and day of their occur-
rence, were regarded as portending events, political,
social, or meteorological.^ We give a specimen from
an astronomical calendar : —

" In the month of Ekil (August), the 14th day, an eclipse happens;
in the north it begins, and in the south and east it ends ; in the evening
watch it begins, and in the night watch it ends. To the king of Mul-
lias a crown is given. , . . There are rains in heaven, and in the
channels of the rivers floods. A famine is in the country, and men sell
their sons for silver.

"An eclipse happens on the 15th day. The king's son murders his
father, and seizes on the throne. The enemy plunders and devours the
land.

"An eclipse happens on the i6th day. The king of the Hittites
plunders the land, and on the throne seizes. There is rain in heaven,
and a flood descends in the channels of the rivers.

1 " Records of the Past," vol. i., pp. 153-157-
2 Ibid., pp. 158-161.

NOTICES IN DANIEL. 43

" An eclipse happens on the 20th day. There are rains in heaven,
and floods in the rivers. Country makes peace with country, and keeps
festival.

" An eclipse happens on the 21st day. The enemy's throne does not
endure. A self-appointed king rules in the land. After a year the Air
god causes an inundation. After a year the king does not remain. His
country is made small." ^

The application of the ethnic term " Chaldaean "
(Kasdim) to the learned caste, or class, which occupied
itself with the subjects of magic and astrology, so
frequent in Daniel (ch. ii. 2, 4, 5, 10; v. 11), is found
also in profane writers, as Strabo, Diodorus, Cicero,
and others,^ who distinguish between Chaldseans and
Babylonians, making the latter term the ethnic appel-
lative of the nation at large, while they reserve the
former for a small section of the nation, distinguished
by the possession of abstruse and recondite learning.
The distinction seems to have originated in the later
period of the empire, and to have been grounded on
an identification of the Chaldaeans with the Akkad,
and on the fact that the old Akkadian language and
learning was in the later times the special possession
of a literary class, who furnished to the nation its
priests, astrologers, magicians, and men of science.
What the real connection was between the Chaldaeans
and the Akkad is still uncertain ; but some ethnic
affinity may be regarded as probable.

1" Records of the Past," vol. i., p. 160.

2 Diod. Sic. ii. 29; Strab. xvi. i, ^ 6; Cic. De Div. i. I, ^ 2; 42,
\ 93; Plin. H. N. vi. 30, I 123, etc.

44 BAB YL ON AND E G YPT.

The division of the learned class into three distinct
bodies, devoted to different branches of the mystic lore
in which all participated, receives illustration from the
native remains, where the literature of magic comes
under three principal heads: (i). Written charms or
talismans, which were to be placed on the bodies of
sick persons, or on the doorposts of afflicted houses;^
(2). Formulae of incantation, which had to be recited
by the learned man in order to produce their proper
effect;^ and (3). Records of observations, intended to
serve as grounds for the prediction of particular events,
together with collections of prognostics from eclipses
or other celestial phenomena, regarded as having a
general applicability.^ The preparation of the written
charms or talismans was probably the special task of
the " magicians " or kJicrttnniniin, whose name is
formed from the root khcrct, which signifies " an
engraving tool," or " stylus." The composition and
recitation of the formulae of incantation belonged to
the aslisJiaplihn or mccasJiapliim, the " astrologers "
and " sorcerers " of our version, whose names are
derived from the root ashaph or cashapJi, which means
" to mutter." ^ The taking of observations and framing
of tables of prognostics is probably to be assigned to
the gdzeriin or " dividers," in our version " sooth-
sayers " who divided the heavens into constellations

^See "Records of the Past," vol. iii., p. 142.
2 Ibid., vol. iii., pp. 147-152, and xi., 128-138.
'Ibid., vol. i., pp. 153-163.
*Furst, "Concordant.," p. 133.

NOTICES IN DANIEL. 45

or " houses " for astronomical and astrological pur-
poses/

The attention paid to dreams (ch. ii. 1-46; iv. 5-27)
by the Babylonian monarch is quite in accordance
with what we know of the state of opinion, both in
Babylonia and Assyria, about the time of Nebuchad-
nezzar. The Assyrians had a '' dream deity," whom
they called Makhir, and regarded as " the daughter of
the Sun," and to whom they were in the habit of
praying, either beforehand, to send them favourable
dreams, or after they had dreamed, to "confirm" their
dream, or make it turn out favourably to them.^ A
late Assyrian monarch records that, in the course of a
war which he carried on with Elam or Susiana, one
of his " wise men" dreamed a remarkable dream, and
forthwith communicated to him the particulars.
" Ishtar," he said, " the goddess of war had appeared
to him in the dead of night, begirt with flames on the
right hand and on the left; she held a bow in her
hand, and was riding in a chariot, as if going forth to
war. Before her stood the king, whom she addressed
as a mother would her child. . . . ' Take this bow,' she
said, * and go with it to the battle. Wherever thou
shalt pitch thy camp, I will come to thee.' Then
the king replied, - * O queen of all the goddesses,
wherever thou goest, let me accompany thee.' She
made answer, ' I will protect thee, and march with
thee at the time of the feast of Nebo. Meanwhile,

^ "Ancient Monarchies," vol. ii., p. 575.
2 " Records of the Past," vol. ix., p. 152.

46 BAB YLON AND EG YPT.

eat meat, drink wine, make music, and glorify my
divinity, until I come to thee and this vision shall
be fulfilled.' " Rendered confident by his dream, the
Assyrian monarch marched forth to war, attacked the
Elamites in their own country, defeated them, and
received their submission.^

Not very long after the time of Nebuchadnezzar,
Nabonidus, one of his successors, places on record the
following incident : " In the beginning of my long
reign," he says, " Merodach, the great lord, and Sin,
the illuminator of heaven and earth, the strengthener
of all, showed me a dream. Merodach spake thus
with me : ' Nabonidus, king of Babylon, come up
with the horses of thy chariot; build the walls of
Ehulhul ; and have the seat of Sin, the great lord,
set within it.' Reverently I made answer to the lord
of the eods, Merodach, ' I will build this house of
which thou speakest. The Sabmanda destroyed it,
and strong was their might' Merodach replied to
me, ' The Sabmanda of whom thou speakest, they and
their country, and the king who rules over them,
shall cease to exist.' In the third year he {i. e., Mero-
dach) caused Cyrus, king of Ansan, his young servant,
to go with his little army: he overthrew the wide-
spreading Sabmanda; he captured Istumegu (i.e., Asty-
ages), king of Sabmanda, and took his treasures to his
own land."^

* " Records of the Past," vol. vii., p. 68.

2 " Proceedings of the Society of Biblical Archseology," November,
1882, p. 7.

NOTICES IN DANIEL. 47

The civil organization of the Babylonian kingdom
is very imperfectly known to us. Neither sacred nor
profane authorities furnish more than scattered and
incomplete notices of it. We gather from Daniel
merely that it was elaborate and complicated, involv-
ing the employment by the crown of numerous officers,
discharging distinct functions, and possessing different
degrees of dignity. The names given to the various
officers by Daniel can scarcely be those which were
in actual use under the Babylonian monarch, since
they are in many cases of Aryan etymology. Most
likely they are the equivalents under the Medo-Persic
system, which was established before Daniel wrote his
book, of the Babylonian terms previously in vogue.
Still in some instances the names sufficiently indicate
the offices intended. The " princes " (literally " satraps ")
of Dan. iii. 2, 3, 27, can only be governors of provinces
(compare ch. vi. i), chief rulers under the monarch of
the main territorial divisions of his empire. Such
persons had been generally employed by the Assyrian
kings in the government of the more settled parts of
their dominions, and were no doubt continued by the
Babylonians when the territories of Assyria were
divided between them and the Medes. Gedaliah held
the office in Judaea immediately after its conquest by
Nebuchadnezzar (2 Kings xxv. 22-25 ; Jer. xl. 5).
Another such Babylonian governor is actually called
a "satrap "by Berosus.^ Babylonian witnesses to con-
tracts still in existence often sign themselves " gov-

^ Ap. Joseph., Coittr. Apion., i. 19.

48 BAB YL ON AND EG YP T.

ernor, " sometimes ** governor " of a province, which
they mention.^ The sagans ("governors" in our
version) may be *' governors of towns," who are often
mentioned in the inscriptions as distinct from gov-
ernors of provinces. The "judges " (literally "noble
judges") are no doubt the heads of the judicature,
which was separate from the executive in Babylonia,
as in Persia.^ They, too, appear in the inscriptions,^ as
do " treasurers " and " captains."* It is not intended
to assert that the correspondence between Daniel's
account of the civil administration and that indicated
by the Babylonian remains is very close or striking,
but the general features certainly possess considerable
resemblance, and there is as much agreement in the
details as could fairly be expected.

The employment of eunuchs at the Babylonian
court, under the presidency of a "master of the
eunuchs," is analogous to the well-known practice of
the Assyrians, where the president, or " master," bore
the title of rab-saris, or " chief eunuch " (2 Kings xviii.
17). It also receives illustration from the story of
Nanarus, as told by Nicholas of Damascus, a writer
whose Asiatic origin makes him a high authority upon
the subject of Oriental habits. Nanarus, according to
him, was one of the later Babylonian monarchs, a
successor of the Belesis who appears to represent

1" Records of the Past," vol. ix., pp. 34, 92, 98, 107.
2 Herod., iii. 31.

3 "Records of the Past," vol. vii., p. 120; vol. xi., p. 103.
*Ibid., vol. ix., p. 104; vol. xi., p. 103.

NOTICES IN DANIEL. 49

Nabopolassar. His court was one in which eunuchs held
all the most important positions ; and the head eunuch,
Mitraphernes, was the chief counsellor of the king.^

The delight of the Babylonians in music, and the
advanced condition of the art among them, is con-
firmed and illustrated by the same story of Nanarus.
Nanarus, according to Nicholas maintained at his
court no fewer than a hundred and fifty female musi-
cians, of whom some sang, while others played upon
instruments. Among the instruments indicated are
three of those mentioned in Daniel — the flute, the
cithern ("harp," A.V.), and the psaltery. Sculpture
does not readily lend itself to the representation of so
large a crowd, but we see in a bas-relief of a date a
little anterior to Nebuchadnezzar a band of twenty-six
performers.^ At least eight or nine different instru-
ments were known to the Assyrians,^ and we can
therefore feel no surprise that six were in use among
the Babylonians of Nebuchadnezzar's time.

Considerable difficulty has been felt with respect to
the names of several of the Babylonian instruments.
These names have a Greek appearance ; and it has
been asked by critics of reputation, " How could Greek
musical instruments have been used at Babylon late in
the seventh, or early in the sixth century before our
era ? " A searching analysis of the words themselves
has thrown a good deal of doubt on several of the

^ See the Fragm. Hist. Gr., vol. iii., pp. 359-363.
^"Ancient Monarchies," vol. i., p. 542.
3 Ibid., pp. 529-539.
5

50 BAB YL ON AND E G YPT.

supposed Greek etymologies. Kama and xc7>a?, kitlieros
and xiddpiq^ sabkah and GaiJ.[ib7.rj are no doubt connected;
but one of them is a root common to Semitic with
Aryan, while the other two passed probably from the
Orientals to the Greeks. The Chaldee karna is
Hebrew keren, and is at least as old in Hebrew as the
Pentateuch ; kitJieros is Persian sitareh, Greek y,iOdpi<i^
German zither, modern Arabic kootJiir ; sabkah is from
sabak, a well-known Semitic root, and is an appropriate
name for a " harp " in Hebrew ; ^ whereas aaix^uxr^ is
an unmeaning name in Greek. To derive mdshrokitha
from abpiy^ requires a very hardy etymologist. The
two words may conceivably be derivatives from one
root ; but neither can possibly have been the direct
parent of the other. Even pesanterin and suniphojiyah
though so near to (I'aXrripioy and aotKpajvia, are not
allowed by all critics to be of Greek origin.^ Suppos-
ing, however, that they are, and that they imply the
use by the Babylonians of Greek instruments, which
brought their names with them from their native
country, as " pianoforte " and " concertina " have done
with us, there is nothing extraordinary in the circum-
stance. The Assyrians and the Greeks came into
contact in Cyprus as early as the reign of Sargon,^
whose effigy has been found at Idalium. Esar-haddon
obtained building materials from several Cyprian kings
with Greek names.'* As the inheritress of Assyrian

1 Pusey's " Daniel," p. 24, note 9. - 2 jbjd.^ pp, 27-30.

2" Ancient Monarchies," vol. ii., p. 150.
* " Records of the Past," vol. iii., p. 108.

NOTICES IN DANIEL.

51

luxury and magnificence, Babylon would necessarily
have some connection with Greeks. We hear of a Greek
having served in Nebuchadnezzar's army, and won
glory and reward under his banners.^ Direct inter-
course with Hellenes may thus have brought Hellenic
instruments to Babylon. Or the intercourse may have
been indirect. The Phoenicians were engaged in a
carrying trade between Europe and Asia from a time
anterior to Solomon ; and their caravans were con-
tinually passing from Tyre and Sidon, by way of
Tadmor and Thapsacus, to the Chaldaean capital.
Nothing would be more natural than the importation
into that city, at any time between b. c. 605 and b. c.
538, of articles manufactured in Greece, which the
Babylonians were likely to appreciate.

The position of the king in the Babylonian court,
as absolute lord and master of the lives and liberties
even of the greatest of his subjects, able to condemn
to death, not only individuals (ch. iii. 19), but a whole
class, and that class the highest in the state (ch. ii. 12-
14), is thoroughly in accordance with all that profane
history tells us of the Babylonian governmental sys-
tem. In Oriental monarchies it was not always so.
The writer of the Book of Daniel shows a just appre-
ciation of the difference between the Babylonian and
the Medo-Persian systems, when he makes Darius the
Mede influenced by his nobles, and compelled to do
things against his will by a " law of the Medes and
Persians, which altered not" (ch. vi. 14-17); while

1 Strab. xiii. 3, \ 2.

5 2 BAB YL ON AND EGYPT.

Nebuchadnezzar the Babylonian is wholly untram-
meled, and does not seem even to consult his lords on
matters where the highest interests of the state are
concerned. Babylonian and Assyrian monarchs were
absolute in the fullest sense of the word. No tradi-
tional " law " restrained them. Their nobility was an
official nobility, like that of Turkey at the present day.
They themselves raised it to power ; and it lay with
them to degrade its members at their pleasure. Officers
such as the tartan, or '' commander-in-chief," the rab-
shakeh, or " chief cup-bearer," and the rab-saris, or
" chief eunuch," held the highest positions (2 Kings
xviii. 17) — mere creatures of the king, whom a "breath
had made," and a breath could as easily " unmake."
The kings, moreover, claimed to be of Divine origin,
and received Divine honours. " Merodach," says
Nebuchadnezzar, " deposited my germ in my mother's
womb." ^ Khammurabi claims to be the son of Mero-
dach and Ri.^ He was joined in inscriptions with the
great gods, Sin, Shamas, and Merodach, during his
lifetime, and people swore by his name.^ Amaragu
and Naram-sin are also said to have been deified while
still living.^ It was natural that those who claimed,
and were thought to hold so exalted a position, should
exercise a despotic authority, and be unresisted, even
when they were most tyrannical.

1" Records of the Past," vol. v., p. 1 13.

2 Ibid., vol. i., p. 8. ^ Ibid., vol. v., p. 109,

*See note on Dan. vi. 7, in the "Speakers' Commentary."

CHAPTER V.

FURTHER NOTICES OF BABYLON IN DANIEL.

The character of Nebuchadnezzar, as depicted in the
Book of Daniel, is confirmed as fully as could be ex-
pected, considering the nature of the materials that
have come down to us from profane sources. These
materials are scanty, and of a peculiar character.
They consist of a very few brief notices in classical
writers, and of some half-dozen inscriptions belonging
to the reign of Nebuchadnezzar himself, and appar-
ently either composed by him or, at least, put forth
under his authority. These inscriptions are in some
cases of considerable length,^ and, so far, might seem
ample for the purpose whereto we propose to apply
them ; but, unfortunately, they present scarcely any
variety. With the exception of one, which is histor-
ical, but very short and much mutilated," they are
accounts of buildings, accompanied by religious invo-
cations. It is evident that such records do not afford

^ One of them consists of ten columns, with an average of sixty-two
lines in each, and in the "Records of the Past" occupies twenty-three
pages (vol. iii., pp. 1 13-135).

2 See the " Transactions of the Society of Bibl. Archteology," vol.
vii., pp. 218-222.

5* 53

54 BAB YL ON AND EGYPT.

much opportunity for the display of more than a few
points of character. They can tell us nothing of those
qualities which are called forth in action, in the deal-
ings of man with man, in war, in government, in
domestic intercourse. Thus the confirmation which
it is possible to adduce from this source can only be
partial ; and it is supplemented only to a very small
extent from the notices of. the classical writers.

The most striking features of Nebuchadnezzar's
character, as portrayed for us in Scripture, and espe-
cially in the Book of Daniel, will probably be allowed
to be the following: i. His cruelty. Not only is he
harsh and relentless in his treatment of the foreign
enemies who have resisted him in arms, tearincr thou-
sands from their homes, and carrying them off into a
miserable and hopeless captivity, massacring the chief
men by scores (2 Kings xxv. 18-21), blinding rebel
kings (ver. 7), or else condernning them to perpetual
imprisonment (ver. 27), and even slaying their sons
before their eyes (ver 7) ; but at home among his sub-
jects he can condemn to death a whole class of per-
sons for no fault but inability to do what no one had
ever been even asked to do before (Dan. ii. 10-13),
and can actually cast into a furnace of fire three of his
best officers, because they decline to worship an
image (iii. 20-23). 2. His pride and boastfulness.
The pride of Nebuchadnezzar first shows -itself in
Scripture in the contemptuous inquiry addressed to
the " three children " (Dan iii. 15), " Who is that God
that shall deliver you out of my hands ? " Evidently

NOTICES IN DANIEL. 55

he believes that this is beyond the power of any god.
He speaks, as Sennacherib spoke by the mouth of
Rab-shakeh : " Hearken not to Hezekiah, when he
persuadeth you, saying. The Lord will deliver us.
Hath any of the gods of the nations delivered at all
his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria?
Where are the gods of Hamath and of Arpad ?
Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivah ?
Have they delivered Samaria out of mine hand ? Who
are they among the gods of the countries, that have
delivered their country out of mine hand, that the
Lord should deliver Jerusalem out of mine hand ? "
(2 Kings xviii. 32-35,) The event shows him that he
is mistaken, and that there is a God who can deliver
His servants, and " change the king's word " (Dan.
iii. 38), and then for a time he humbles himself; but,
later on, the besetting sin breaks out afresh ; " his
heart is lifted up, and his mind hardened in pride "
(ch. V. 20), and he makes the boast which brings upon
him so signal a punishment : " Is not this great Baby-
lon that I have built for the house of my kingdom, by
the might of my power, and for the Jionour of my
majesty?'' The punishment inflicted once more hum-
bled him, and he confessed finally that there was one,
" the King of heaven, all whose works were truth, and
His ways judgment;" and that "those who walk in
pride He was able to abase " (ch. iv. 37). 3. His
religiousness. The spoils which Nebuchadnezzar
carried off from the Temple at Jerusalem he did not
convert to his own use, nor even bring into the national

56 BABYLON A ND EGYPT.

treasury ; but " put them in his temple at Babylon "
(2 Chron. xxxvi. 7), and *' brought them into the
treasure-house of his god " (Dan. i. 2). When Daniel
revealed to him his dream and its interpretation (ch.
ii. 27-45), he at once confessed, " Of a truth your God
is a God of gods, and a Lord of kings, and a revealer
of secrets, seeing thou couldst reveal this secret."
The image which he made, and set up on the plain of
Dura, was not his own image, but an image of a Baby-
lonian god (ch. iii. 12, 14, 18), to whom he was anxious
that all his subjects should do honour. His anger
against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego was not so
much because they resisted his will, as because they
would not " serve his god." When the fiery furnace
had no power on them, he accepted the fact as proving
that there was another God, whom he had not known
of previously, and at once commanded that this new
God should be respected throughout his dominions
(ch. iii. 29). But his religiousness culminates in the
last scene of his life that is presented to us in Scrip-
ture. After his recovery from the severe affliction
whereby his pride was punished, he at once, " lifted
up his eyes to heaven," and " blessed the Most High,
and praised and honoured Him that liveth for ever "
(ch. iv. 34), and made a proclamation, which he
caused to be published throughout the length and
breadth of his vast dominions (ver. i), acknowledging
his sin, and declaring that he " honoured and extolled
the King of heaven " (ver. 37), and " thought it good
to show the sicrns and wonders that the hi":h God had

NOTICES IN DANIEL. 57

wrought towards him " (ver. 2), since " His signs were
great, and His wonders mighty, and His kingdom an
everlasting kingdom, and His dominion from genera-
tion to generation " (ver. 3).

A fourth and special characteristic of Nebuchad-
nezzar, peculiar to him among the heathen monarchs
brought under our notice in Scripture, is the mixed
character of his religion, the curious combination which
it presents of monotheism with polytheism, the worship
of one God with that of many. Nebuchadnezzar's
polytheism is apparent when he addresses Daniel as
" one in whom is the spirit of the holy gods " (ch. iv.
8, 9, 18), and again when he calls the figure which he
sees walking with the " three children " in the furnace
"a son of the gods'' pn'^x-ia, bar-ddJiiii (ch. iii. 25),
and still more plainly when he recognizes the God
who has delivered the " children " as a God, " their
God" (ver. 28), and declares his belief that "no
otJier god can deliver after this sort'' (ver. 29). His
monotheism shows itself — though not made apparent
in our version — when he sets up a single image, and
calls on the people to worship " his god " (ch. iii. 14),
when he recognizes Daniel's God as " a Lord of kings
and God of gods" (ch. ii. 47), and most conspicuously
when in his last proclamation he acknowledges " the
high God " (5<^S;; ^'7"??', eldhd 'il/dyd, ch. iv. 2), " the
Most High " (ver. 34), " the King of heaven " (ver. 37),
Him that " liveth for ever " (ver. 34), and ''doctJi accord-
ing to His will in the army of heaven and among the
inhabitants of the earth," and " whose hand none can

58 BAB YL ON AND E G YFT.

stay, nor can any say unto Him, What doest thou?"
(ver. 35.) Either he fluctuates between two beliefs, or
else his polytheism is of that modified kind which has
been called " Kathenotheism," ^ where the worshipper,
on turning his regards to any particular deity, " forgets
for the time being that there is any other, and addresses
the object of his adoration in terms of as absolute
devotion as if he were the sole god w^hom he rec-
ognized, the one and only divine being in the entire
universe." ^

Limiting ourselves, for the present, to these four
characteristics of the great Babylonian monarch — his
cruelty, his boastful pride, his religiousness, and the
curious mixture of two elements in his religion — let us
inquire how far they are confirmed or illustrated by
his own inscriptions, or by the accounts which profane
writers have given of him.

And first, with respect to his cruelty. Here, it
must be confessed, there is little, if any, confirmation.
The one brief historical inscription of Nebuchad-
nezzar's time which we possess contains no notice of
any severities, nor is the point touched in the few
fragments concerning him which are all that classical
literature furnishes. Berosus mentions the numerous
captives whom he carried off to Babylonia in his first
campaign,^ but does not seem to regard their fate as
exceptionally wretched. Josephus gives us in some

^Max Miiller, "Chips from a Gennan Workshop," vol. i., p. 28.
2 See the author's " Religions of the Ancient World," A/ncn'canEd.,
p. 108. •'' Ap. Joseph., Ant. Jiid.^ x. ii, ^ i.

NOTICES IN DANIEL. 59

detail the various cruelties recorded of him in Scrip-
ture, and adds others, as that he put to death a king
of Egypt whom he conquered;^ but Josephus is
scarcely an unprejudiced witness. Abydenus, who
tells us more about him than any other classical writer
except Berosus, is bent on glorifying him, and would
not be likely to mention what was to his discredit. If,
however, we have no confirmation, we have abundant
illustrations of Nebuchadnezzar's cruelties in the
accounts given us of their own doings by the Assyrian
monarchs to whose empire Nebuchadnezzar had suc-
ceeded. Assyrian monarchs transport entire nations
to distant lands, massacre prisoners by scores or
hundreds, put captive kings to death, or mutilate
them, cut men to pieces,^ and even burn them to death
in furnaces.^ The recorded cruelties of Nebuchad-
nezzar pale before those which Asshur-bani-pal, the
son of Esar-haddon, who lived less than a century
earlier, mentions as commanded by himself, and exe-
cuted under his orders.*^

Nebuchadnezzar's pride and boastfulness were noted
by Abydenus, who spoke of him as siiperbia tuniidus
and fastii elattis^ His own inscriptions not only
accumulate on him titles of honour and terms of
praise, but seem altogether composed with the object

*Ap. Joseph., Ant. Jud., x. 9, ? 7. ' ^

2 " Records of the Past," vol. ix., p. 57.

^ Ibid., vol. i., p. 77 ; vol, ix., p. 56, etc.

* Ibid., vol. i , pp. 57-102.

5 " Fr. Hist. Grcec," vol. iv., p. 283, Fr. 8.

6o BAB YLON AND EG YPT.

of glorifying himself rather than the deities whom they
profess to eulogise. Among the titles which he
assumes are those of ''glorious prince," "the exalted,"
or ** the exalted chief," '* the possessor of intelligence,"
" he who is firm, and not to be overthrown," " the
valiant son of Nabopolassar," " the devout and pious,"
*' the lord of peace," '' the noble king," and " the wise
Mage." ^ Nebuchadnezzar declares that " the god
Merodach deposited his germ in his mother's womb,"
that '' Nebo gave into his hand the sceptre of righteous-
ness," that Sin was '* the strengthener of his hands,"
that Shamas '* perfected good in his body," and Gula
"beautified his person."^ He boasts that he is "the
eldest son of Merodach," who has made him " the
chosen of his heart ;"^ he, for his part, is "the rejoicer
of the heart of Merodach."* "Merodach has made
him a surpassing prince ; " he " has extended Mero-
dach's power ;"^ owing his own exaltation to Mero-
dach and Nebo, he has exalted them in turn ; and the
impression left is that they have had rather the better
of the bargain. Other Babylonian kings are moderate
in their self-praise compared with Nebuchadnezzar, as
may be seen by his inscriptions and those of Neriglissar
and Nabonidus.

The religiousness of Nebuchadnezzar is even more
conspicuous in his inscriptions than his pride. Not
only was he, as a modern writer expresses if, " faithful

1 " Records of the Past," vol. v., pp. 1 13, 1 14; vol. vii., pp. 71, 75.

2 Ibid., vol. v., pp. 113, 114, 122, 123. 3 Ibid., p. 125.
* Ibid., p. 134. 6 Ibid., p. 134.

NOTICES IN DANIEL. 6i

to the orthodoxy of his day,"^ but a real devotion to
his gods seems to have animated him. His own name
for himself is "the heaven-adoring king."^ He places
some god, generally Merodach, in the forefront of
every inscription ; acknowledges that his life and
success were the fruit of the divine favour ; labours to
show his gratitude by praises and invocations, by the
presentation of offerings, the building and repair of
temples, the adornment of shrines, the institution of
processions, and the proclamation of each god by his
proper titles.^ He speaks of Merodach " accepting the
devotion of his heart;'"* and there is no reason to
doubt that he speaks sincerely. He looks to his
deities for blessings, beseeches them to sustain his life,
to keep reverence for them in his heart, to give him a
long reign, a firm throne, abundant and vigorous
offspring, success in war, and a record of his good
deeds in their book.^ He hopes that these good deeds
are acceptable to them, and are regarded with satisfac-
tion : whether he expects them to be rewarded in
another life is not apparent.

The peculiar character of Nebuchadnezzar's religion
— at one time polytheistic, at another monotheistic — is
also evidenced by his inscriptions. The polytheism
is seen in the distinct and separate acknowledgment of
at least thirteen deities, to most of whom he builds

*G. Smith, "History of Babylonia," p. 167.
2 " Records of the Past," vol. vii., p. 78.

^ Ibid., vol. v., pp. 113, 114, etc. * Ibid., p. 114.

^ Ibid., vol. vii., pp. 72-77.
6

62 BAB YL ON AND EG YPT.

temples, as well as in his mention of " the great gods," ^
and the expressions " chief of tlic gods,'' " king of
gods,'' and " god oi gods," which are of frequent occur-
rence. The monotheism, or at least the " katheno-
theism," discloses itself in the attitude assumed towards
Merodach, who is '' the great Lord," *' the God his
maker," " the Lord of all beings," " the Prince of the
lofty house," " the chief, the honourable, the Prince of
the gods, the great Merodach," " the Divine Prince, the
Deity of heaven and earth, the Lord God," " the King
of gods and Lord of lords," " the chief of the gods,"
" the Lord of the gods," ''the God of gods," and " the
King of heaven and earth." Nebuchadnezzar assigns
to Merodach a pre-eminence which places him on a
pedestal apart from and above all the other deities of
his pantheon. He does not worship him exclusively,
but he worships him mainly ; and when engaged in
the contemplation of his greatness, scarcely takes into
account the existence of any other deity. No other
Babylonian king is so markedly the votary of one god
as Nebuchadnezzar ; though, no doubt, something of
a similar spirit may be traced in the inscriptions of
Khammurabi, of Neriglissar, and of Nabonidus.

Besides the main traits of character, of which we
have hitherto spoken, there are certain minoj features
in the biblical portraiture which seem entitled to men-
tion. Nebuchadnezzar is brave and energetic. He
leads his armies in person (2 Kings xxiv. i, 10; xxv.

^"Records of the Past," vol. v., p. 129; "Trans, of Bibl. Arch.
Soc," vol. vii., p. 219.

NO TICKS IN DA NIEL . 63

i; Jer. xxi. 2; xxiv. i; xxxiv. i, etc.), presses his
enterprises vigorously, is not easily discouraged or
rebuffed, has the qualities of a good general, is brave,
" bold in design, and resolute in action." ^ His own
inscriptions so far agree, that they represent him
as making war upon Egypt,^ as desiring "the conquest
of his enemies' land,"^ and as looking forward to the
accumulation at his great Babylonian temple of " the
abundant tribute of the kings of nations and of all
people." ^ Profane historians go far beyond this ; they
represent him as one of the greatest of conquerors.
Berosus ascribes to him the conquest of Syria, Phoe-
nicia, Egypt, and Arabia ! ^ Abydenus says that he
was "more valiant than Hercules," and not only
reduced Egypt, but subdued all Libya, as far as the
Straits of Gibraltar, and thence passing over into
Spain, conquered the Iberians, whom he took with
him to Asia, and settled in the country between Ar-
menia and the Caucasus ! ^ Menander and Philostratus
spoke of his thirteen-y ears-long siege of Tyre ; '' and
Megasthenes put him on a par with Sesostris and
Tirhakah.«

The religion of Nebuchadnezzar was, as might have
been expected, tinged with superstition. We are told
in Scripture that on one occasion a " king of Babylon,"

^ G. Smith, " History of Babylonia," p. 166.

2 " Transactions of Society of Bibl. Archaeology," vol. vii., p. 220.

3" Records of the Past," vol. vii., p. 77. *Ibid., vol. v., p 135.

^ See the fragments of Berosus in the " Fr. Hist. Gr.," vol. ii., fr. 14.

* Ibid., vol. iv., p. 283, Fr. 9.

■^ Ap. Joseph., Ant. Jud., x. ii, ^ 1, sub fin. ^ Ap. Strab., xv. i, \ 6.

54 BAB YLON AND EG YPT.

who can be no other than he, in one of his mihtary
expeditions, "stood at the parting of the way, at the
head of the two ways, to use divination. He made
his arrows bright (or rather, ' he shook his arrows ') ;
he consulted with images ; he looked in the Hver. At
his right hand was the divination for Jerusalem "
(Ezek. xxi. 21, 22). That is to say, having come to a
certain point on his march, where the road parted,
leading on the right hand towards Jerusalem, and
on the left towards Rabbath of Ammon, instead of
deciding on his course by military considerations, he
employed divination, and allowed his campaign to be
determined by a use of lots and a consultation of the
entrails of victims. He showed an equal supersti-
tiousness when, as we read on the Borsippa cylinder,^
he could not allow himself to commence the work of
restoration, which the great temple of the Seven
Spheres so imperatively needed, until he had first waited
for " a fortunate month," and in that fortunate month
found an "auspicious day." Then, at length, "the
bricks of its wall, and the slabs that covered it, the
finest of them, he collected, and rebuilt the ruins firmly.
Inscriptions written in his own name he placed within
it, in the finest apartments (?), and of completing the
upper part he made an end." ^ It has been" said that
all Babylonian kings were equally superstitious, and
even that " the Babylonians never started on an expe-
dition, or commenced any work, without consulting

^ Sir H. Rawlinson in the author's " Herodotus," vol, ii., p. 586.
2" Records of the Past," vol. vii., p. 77.

NOTICES IN DANIEL. 65

the omens," ' but no proof has been given of this
assertion, and certainly neither NerigHssar nor Nabo-
nidus relate that they waited for " fortunate days " to
commence their works of restoration.

No doubt there are points in the character of
Nebuchadnezzar with respect to which neither his own
inscriptions nor the remains of classical antiquity
furnish any illustration. His hasty and violent temper,
quick to take offence, and rushing at once to the most
extreme measures (Dan. ii. 9, 12 ; iii. 13, 19), is known
to us only from the Book of Daniel, and the writers
who follow that book in their account of him; e.g.,
Josephus. His readiness to relent, and his kindly
impulse to make amends (ch. ii. 46,49; iii. 26-30), are
also traits unnoticed by profane authors, and unap-
parent in his inscriptions. But no surprise ought to
be felt at this. We could only expect to find evidence
of such qualities in inscriptions of a different character
from those which have come down to us. Should the
annals of Nebuchadnezzar ever be recovered, and
should they be on the scale of those left by Asshur-
bani-pal, or even those of Sennacherib, Sargon, and
other earlier Assyrian kings, we might not improbably
meet with indications of the great king's moods and
temperament. The one historical inscription which we
have is insufficient for the purpose. As originally
written, it extended only to thirty lines, and of these
there is not one which is not mutilated.^ Nor are the

1 " Records of the Past," vol. v., p. 58.

'^ See "Transactions of Soc. of Bibl. Arch.," vol. vii,, pp. 218-222.
5

66 BAB YL ON AND EGYPT.

remains of the profane historians who treat of his time
such as naturally to supply the deficiency. Of the
account which Berosus gave of him, we possess but
one considerable fragment; of Abydenus, we have two
shorter ones ; the remaining writers furnish only a few
sentences or a few lines. It is unfortunate that this
should be so; but so it is. Had the *' Babylonian
History " of Berosus come down to us complete, or
had kind faith permitted that Antimenides, the brother
of Alcaeus, should have written, and time have spared
a record of his Babylonian experiences, the slighter
details and more delicate shades of the monarch's
character might have been laid open to us. At present
we have to content ourselves with treating the broader
features and more salient points of a character that
was not without many minor tones and some curious
complications.

CHAPTER VI.

FURTHER NOTICES OF BABYLON IN DANIEL.

" The king spake, and said, Is not this great Babylon, that I have
built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for
the honour of my majesty?" — Dan. iv. 30.

When we think of the enormous size of Babylon,
according to the most trustworthy accounts, it seems
a most audacious boast on the part of any one man,
that he had built the whole of it. Accordino- to Hero-
dotus,^ who represents himself as having visited the
city about b. c. 450, the walls formed a circuit of 480
stades, or fifty-five miles, enclosing a square space,
which was 120 stades, or nearly fourteen miles each
way. Strabo reduced the circuit to 385 stades,^ Quin-
tus Curtius to 368,^ Clitarchus to 365,^ and Ctesias to
360.^. If we accept the smallest of these estimates, it
will give us a square of above ten miles each way, and
consequently an area of above a hundred square miles.
This is a space four times as great as that of Paris
within the enceinte, and fully double that of London
within the bills of mortality.

1 Herod., i. 178. ^gtrab., xvi. i, ^ 5.

3Vit. Alex.. Magn., v. i. * Ap. Diod. Sic, ii. 7, ^ 3. ^ Ibid.

67

68 BAB YL ON AND EG YP T.

No doubt it is true that only a portion of this
immense area was covered by buildings. The district
within the walls represented a vast entrenched camp,
more than what we now mean by a city.^ Aristotle
remarks with respect to it : " It is not walls by them-
selves that make a town. Otherwise one would only
have to surround the Peloponnese with a wall [in
order to constitute it a city]. The case is the same
with Babylon and all other towns, the walls of which
enclose rather a nation than a body of citizens."^
Large portions of the space enclosed were occupied by
gardens, orchards, and palm groves ; some part of it
was even devoted to the cultivation of corn. It was
calculated that, in case of a siege, the inhabitants
might, by making the best use of all the unoccupied
ground, raise grain sufficient for their own consump-
tion.^ Still, the area devoted to buildings was very
large. The royal quarter, or palatial inclosure, as
arranged by Nebuchadnezzar, seems to have extended
some miles, both in length and breadth. Outside this
was the city proper, laid out on a regular plan, in
streets cutting each other at right angles,^ like Man-
heim and most American cities. The extent of this
can only be guessed, for "the ninety stades " of Cur-
tius is excessive as a diameter, insufficient as a circum-
ference.

The height and massive character of the buildings

1 Lenormant, "Manuel d'Histoire Ancienne," vol. ii., p. 226.

2 Ai-istot. Pol., iii, I, sub fin. ^ Q. Curt., 1. s. c.
* Herod., i. 180.

NOTICES IN DANIEL. 69

was as remarkable as the area that they covered.
Even the ordinary houses of the inhabitants were, in
many instances, three or four stories high.^ The
soHdity and strength of the walls was most extraor-
dinary. Herodotus estimates their width at fifty, their
height at two hundred cubits.^ He adds that the cubit
of which he speaks is one of unusual length. Diodo-
rus Siculus, who follows Ctesias, agrees almost exactly
as to the height, which he makes fifty fathoms,^ or
three hundred ordinary feet. Pliny* and Solinus^
reduce the three hundred feet of Diodorus to two
hundred and thirty-five ; while Strabo, who may be
supposed to follow the historians of Alexander, makes
a further and still greater reduction, estimating the
height at no more than seventy-five feet.^ Even this
low figure implies a mass of brickwork amounting to
thirteen hundred and ninety millions (1,390,000,000)
of square feet, and would have required for its construc-
tion at least three times that number of the largest
bricks known to the Babylonians. If we accept the
estimate of height given by Pliny and Solinus, we must
multiply these amounts by three ; if we prefer that of
Diodorus, by four ; if that of Herodotus, by four and a
half On the supposition that Herodotus has correctly
reported the dimensions of the wall in his day, to build
it would have required eighteen thousand seven
hundred and sixty-five millions (18,765,000,000) of
the largest Babylonian bricks known to us.

1 Herod., i. 180. 2 Ibid., i. 178. 5 Diod. Sic, ii. 7, \ 3.

* H. iV., vi. 26. 5 " Polyhist," | 60. ^ suab., xvi. i, I 5.

70 BAB YL ON AND EG YPT.

The royal quarter, or palatial enclosure, of Neb-
uchadnezzar's time, comprised three, or according to
some,^ four principal buildings. These were the old
palace, the new palace, the hanging gardens, and (if we
allow it to have been a sort of adjunct to the palace)
the great temple of Bel-Merodach. It was also
guarded by a wall, which Herodotus declares to have
been " very little inferior in strength" to the outer wall
of the city ;^ and it contained further a vast artificial
reservoir.^ Some account must be given of these
various buildings and constructions before we can
appreciate fully Nebuchadnezzar's greatness as a
builder.

The " old palace " seems to be represented by the
modern *' mound of Amram." This is a huge mass
of ruins, almost triangular in its present shape, occupy-
ing the more southern portion of the ancient *' royal
city." It is about a thousand yards along its south-
western or principal side, which faced the river, and
has perhaps been washed into its present receding line
by water action. The northern face of the mound
measures about seven hundred yards, and the eastern
about eight hundred, the triangle being thus scalene,
with its shortest side facing northwards.* The mound
is deeply furrowed with ravines, worn by the" rains in

^ Oppeit, " Expedition Scientifiqiie en Mesopotamie," vol. i., Plan of
Babylon,

2Herod., i. i8i.

^ See the " Standard Inscription of Nebuchadnezzar" in the author's
" Herodotus," vol. ii., p. 587.

* See the author's " Ancient Monarchies," vol. ii., pp. 525, 526.

NO TICES IN DANIEL . 7 1

the friable soil ; its elevation above the level of the
plain is nowhere very considerable, but amounts in
places to about fifty or sixty feet.^ Excavators have
driven galleries into it in various directions, but have
found little to reward their labours ; no walls or dis-
tinct traces of buildings of any kind have presented
themselves. A few bricks, belonging to early kings
of Babylon, are all that it has yielded, — enough,
perhaps, to confirm the conjecture that it represents
the site of the " old palace," but otherwise uninterest-
ing. The huge mass seems to be, in reality, less a
palace than a palace mound — the basis or substratum
on which once stood a royal edifice, which has now
wholly disappeared. It was no doubt purely artificial;
but whether originally constructed of unbaked bricks,
or merely of the natural soil of the country, may be
doubted. At present it consists wholly of a soft and
friable mould, interspersed with a few fragments of
bricks. The mound covers a space of about thirty-
seven acres.^

If the " mound of Amram " represents the " old
palace " of the Babylonian kings, the " new palace,"
which adjoined it,^ can scarcely fail to be correctly
■identified with the " great mound " which immediately
succeeds the Amram mound towards the north, and,
according to some writers, is connected with it by a
broad causeway.* The name Kasr, or "palace," still

1 Rich, " Memoir on the Ruins of Babylon," p. 61.
' Oppert, "Expedition Scientifique," vol. i., p. 157.
3 Beiosus, ap. Joseph., "Ant. Jud." x. 11, ^ i. * Rich, p.'62.

72 BAB YLON AND EGYPT.

attaches to this mass of ruins. The " Kasr mound " is an
oblong square, about seven hundred yards long by six
hundred broad, with the sides facing the cardinal
points.^ Like the Amram hill, it is wholly of artificial
origin, but is composed of somewhat better material, as
loose bricks, tiles, and fragments of stone. It contains
at least one subterranean passage, which is seven feet
high, floored and walled with baked bricks, and roofed
over with great blocks of sandstone, which reach from
side to side. This passage may have been either a
secret exit or a gigantic drain — more probably the
latter. On the summit of the mound (which is seventy
feet above the level of the plain), not very far from the
centre, are the remains of the palace proper, from
which the mound is named. This is a building of
excellent brick masonry, in a wonderful state of
preservation, consisting of walls, piers, and buttresses,
and in places ornamented with pilasters, but of too
fragmentary a character to furnish the modern inquirer
with any clue to the original plan of the edifice. Pro-
bably it did not greatly differ from the palaces of
the Assyrian monarchs at Nimrud, Koyunjik, and
Khorsabad, consisting, like them, of a series of courts,
great halls, galleries, and smaller apartments, orna-
mented throughout with sculptured or painted figures,
and with inscriptions in places. Fragments of the
ornamentation have been found. One of these is a
portion of a slab of stone, representing a frieze, where
the abacus was supported by a series of figures of

1 "Ancient Monarchies," vol. ii., p. 524.

NOTICES IN DANIEL, 73

gods, sculptured in low relief, with their names attached
to them.^ The remainder are, for the most part, frag-
ments of bricks, one side of which was painted in
brig-ht colours, and covered with a thick enamel or
glaze. " The principal colours are a brilliant blue, red,
a deep yellow, white, and black." ^ Portions of the
figures of men and animals have been detected upon
these fragments, which are so numerous as fully to
bear out the statement of Diodorus,^ that the palace
walls were artistically adorned with coloured repre-
sentations of war scenes and hunting scenes, wherein
the kings, and sometimes the queens, were depicted
on horseback or on foot, contending with leopards or
with lions, and with spear or javelin dealing them
their death stroke. Such were the " men portrayed
upon the wall," which the Jewish captives saw at
Babylon, and on which they doted ; " the images of
the Chaldeans portrayed with vermilion, girded with
girdles upon their loins, exceeding in dyed attire upon
their heads, all of them princes to look to, after the
manner of the Babylonians of Chaldea, the land of
their nativity" (Ezek. xxiii. 14, 15). The palace is
said to have been further ornamented with statues;^
and the figure of a colossal lion, which stands upon
the mound, north-east of the Kasr building, may lend
a certain support to this statement.

The " hanging gardens " were regarded as one of

*" Ancient Monarchies," vol. ii., p. 552.
^Layard, "Nineveh and Babylon," p. 507.

3 Diod. Sic, ii. 8. * Ibid.

7

74 BAB YL ON AND E G YPT.

the seven wonders of the world.^ They were said to
have been constructed for the delectation of a Median
princess, who disUked the flat monotony of the Baby-
lonian plain, and longed for something that might
remind her of the irregularities of nature in her own
country.^ The construction is described in terms
which are somewhat difficult to understand ; but, by
comparing the several accounts,^ we gather that the
structure was a square, 400 feet each way, elevated to
the height of at least 150 feet, and consisting of sev-
eral tiers of arches, superimposed one upon another,
after the manner employed by the Romans in the con-
struction of their amphitheatres. The building was
divided into as many stories as there were tiers of
arches, the number of these being uncertain, and was
supported by internal walls of great thickness. In
these stories were many palatial apartments, where
visitors rested on their way to the upper terrace ; and
in the uppermost story was a room containing
hydraulic machinery, whereby water was raised from
the Euphrates to the level of the garden itself This
was superimposed on the uppermost tier of arches, and
was a flat surface composed of four layers ; first, one
of reeds mixed with bitumen ; next, one of brickwork,
then one of lead, and finally a thick layer of earth,
affording ample depth for the roots of the largest trees.
The garden was planted with trees and shrubs of

1 Abydenus, Fr. 9, ad fin.\ Strab., xvi. i, | 5. ^ Berosus, Fr. 14,
3 Those of Diod. Sic. (ii. 10), Strabo (xvi. i, I 5), and Q. Curtius
(V. I).

NOTICES IN DANIEL. 75

various kinds, and possibly with flowers, though they
are not mentioned. A spacious pleasure-ground was
thus provided as an adjunct to the palace, where roy-
alty was secure from observation, and where the
dehghts of umbrageous foliage, flashing fountains, gay
flower-beds, and secluded walks could be obtained at
the cost of mounting a staircase somewhat longer than
those of our great London and Paris hotels.

The great temple of Bel-Merodach is probably iden-
tified with the massive ruin which lies due north of
the Kasr mound, at the distance of about a mile.
This is a vast pile of brickwork, of an irregular quad-
rilateral shape, with precipitous sides furrowed by
ravines, and with a nearly flat top.^ Of the four faces
of the ruin, the southern seems to be the most perfect.
It extends a distance of two hundred yards, or almost
exactly a stade, and runs nearly in a straight line from
east to west. At its eastern extremity it forms a right
angle with the east face, which runs nearly due north
for about one hundred and eighty yards, also almost
in a straight line. The other two faces are very much
worn away, but probably in their original condition
corresponded to those already described. The building
was thus not an exact square, but a parallelogram, with
the shorter sides proportioned to the longer as nine
to ten. The ruin rises towards its centre, where it
attains an elevation of nearly one hundred and forty
feet. It shows signs of having been enclosed within
a precinct. Beyond a doubt, it is the edifice which

iSee "Ancient Monarchies," vol. ii., pp. 521-523.

76 BAB YL ON AND EGYPT,

Herodotus describes as follows : — " In the other
division of the town was the sacred precinct of Jupiter
Belus, a square enclosure two stades each way, with
gates of solid brass ; which was also remaining in my
time. In the middle of the precinct there was a tower
of solid masonry, a stade both in length and in
breadth, upon which was raised a second tower, and
upon that a third, and so on up to eight. The ascent
to the top is on the outside, by a path which winds
round all the towers. When one is about half-way
up, one finds a resting-place and seats, where persons
are wont to sit some time on their way to the summit.
On the topmost tower there is a spacious temple, and
inside the temple stands a couch of unusual size,
richly adorned, with a golden table by its side. The
temple contains no image." ' Herodotus adds :
" Below, in the same precinct, there is a second temple,
in which is a sitting figure of Jupiter, all of gold.
Before the figure stands a large golden table ; and the
throne whereon it sits, and the base on which the
throne is placed, are likewise of gold. The Chaldeans
told me that all the gold together was eight hundred
talents in weight. Outside this temple are two altars,
one of solid gold, on which it is only lawful to offer
sucklings ; the other a common altar, but of great size,
on which the full-grown animals are sacrificed."' ^ The
lower temple has disappeared, as have the altars and the
upper stages of the Great Temple tower ; but the massive
basis remains, a solid piece of brickwork containing
1 Herod., i. i8i. ^jbid., i. 183.

NOTICES IN DANIEL. 77

about four millions of square feet, and requiring for its
construction at least twelve millions of the largest bricks
made by the Babylonians. If the upper stages at all
resembled those of the Great Temple of Borsippa, the
bricks needed for the entire building must have been
three times as many.

The artificial reservoir attached to the new palace is
often mentioned in the inscriptions of Nebuchadnezzar.^
It was called the Yapiir-SJiapu, and was probably of an
oblong-square shape, with sides protected by a massive
facing of burnt brick. If we accept the identification
of its site suggested by Sir H. Rawlinson,^ we must
assign it a width of about a hundred yards, and a
length of nearly a mile.

Among the other marvels of Babylon, according to
the ancient writers, were a tunnel and a bridge.. The
tunnel was carried under the bed of the Euphrates,
and was an arched passage, lined throughout with
baked brick laid in bitumen, the lining having a thick-
ness of twenty bricks. The width of the tunnel was
fifteen feet, and its height, to the spring of the arch,
twelve feet.^ The length was about a thousand yards,
or considerably more than half a mile.

The bridge was a structure composed of wood,
metal, and stone. In the bed of the Euphrates were
built a number of strong stone piers, at the distance
of twelve feet apart, which presented to the current a

1" Records of the Past," vol. v., pp. 125, 126, 130, etc.
2 See the author's *' Herodotus," vol. iii., p. 580.
^Diod. Sic, ii. 9.
7*

78 BAB YL ON AND E G YPT.

sharp angle that passed gradually into a gentle curve.
The stones were massive, and fastened together by
clamps of iron and lead.^ From pier to pier was
stretched a platform of wood, composed of cedar and
cypress beams, together with the stems of palms, each
platform being thirty feet in width.^ The length of
the bridge, like that of the tunnel, was a thousand
yards. ^

We have now to consider to what extent these
various constructions may be regarded as the work of
Nebuchadnezzar, and how far therefore he may be
viewed as justified in his famous boast. First, then,
we have it distinctly stated, both by Berosus ^ and by
himself,^ that the new palace, which adjoined the old,
was completely and entirely built by him. The same
is declared, both by Berosus ^ and Abydenus,^ of the
"hanging gardens." The former of these statements is
confirmed by the fact that the bricks of the Kasr are,
one and all of them, stamped with his name. The
old palace he did not build ; but, as he tells us, care-
fully repaired.^ The Yapitr-Sliapu was also an ancient
construction; but he seems to have excavated it afresh,
and to have executed the entire lining of its banks.^
With respect to the great Temple of Bel-Merodach, if
we may believe his own account, it had gone com-

1 Herod., i. 1 86. ^ djo^., Sic, ii. 8. ^ jbij^

*Ap. Joseph., "Ant. Jud.," x. ii, § I.

^" Records of the Past," vol. v., pp. 130, 131.

^Berosus, 1. s. c. '^ Abydenus, Fr. 9, stib JiJt.

^Sir H. Rawlinson in the author's " Herodotus," vol. ii., p. 588.

nbid., p. 587.

NOTICES IN DANIEL. 79

pletely to ruin before his day, and required a restoration
that was equivalent to a rebuilding.^ Here, again, we
have the confirmation of actual fact, since the inscribed
bricks from the Babil mound bear in every instance
the name and titles of Nebuchadnezzar. Eight other
Babylonian temples are also declared in his inscriptions
to have been built or rebuilt by him.^ But his greatest
work was the reconstruction of the walls. We have
seen their enormous length, breadth, and thickness, even
according to the lowest estimates. Nebuchadnezzar
found them dismantled and decayed — probably mere
lines of earthen rampart, such as enclose great part of
the ruins to-day. He gave them the dimensions that
they attained — dimensions that made them one of the
world's wonders. It is this which is his great boast
in his standard inscription : *' Imgar-Bel and Nimiti-
Bel, the great double wall of Babylon, I built.
Buttresses for the embankment of its ditch I completed.
Two long embankments with cement and brick I made,
and with the embankment which my father had made
I joined them. I strengthened the city. Across the
river, westward, I built the wall of Babylon with
brick." ^ And again, "The walls of the fortress of
Babylon, its defence in war, I raised ; and the circuit
of the city of Babylon I have strengthened skillfully."^
Nebuchadnezzar, it may be further remarked, did
not confine his constructive efforts to Babylon. Aby-

1 " Records of the Past," vol. v., p. 119. 2 j^jj^ pp ^^2, 123.

^Ibid., p. 125. Compare the author's "Herodotus," vol. ii., p. 587.
*" Records of the Past," vol. v., pp. 133, 134.

8o BAB YL ON AND E G YPT.

denus tells us, that, besides his great works at the
capital, he excavated two large canals, the Nahr-Agane
and the Nahr-Malcha ; ^ the latter of which is known
from later writers to have been a broad and deep
channel connecting the Tigris with the Euphrates.
He also, according to Abydenus, dug a huge reservoir
near Sippara, which was one hundred and forty miles
in circumference, and one hundred and eighty feet
deep, furnishing it with flood-gates, through which
the water could be drawn off for purposes of irri-
gation, Abydenus adds, that he built quays and
break-waters along the shores of the Persian Gulf,
and at the same time founded the city of Teredon,
on the sea coast, as a defence against the incursions
of the Arabs.

The inscribed bricks of this great monarch show a still
more inexhaustible activity. They indicate him as the
complete restorer of the temple of Nebo at Borsippa,^
the mightiest of all the ruins in Mesopotamia, by some
identified with the biblical " tower of Babel." They
are widely spread over the entire country, occurring at
Sippara, at Cutha, at Kal-wadha (Chilmad ?), in the
vicinity of Baghdad, and at scores of other sites. It is a
calculation of Sir Henry Rawlinson's, that nine-tenths
of the bricks brought from Mesopotamia are inscribed
with the name of Nebuchadnezzar, the son of Nabo-
polassar. " At least a hundred sites," says the same
writer, " in the tract immediately about Babylon, give

^ Abydenus, 1. s. c.

2 Compare his inscription, " Records of the Past," vol. vii., pp. 75-78.

NOTICES IN DANIEL. 8i

evidence, by bricks bearing his legend, of the marvellous
activity and energy of this king." ^

His inscriptions add, that, besides the great temple
of Nebo, or of the Seven Spheres, at Borsippa, he
built there at least five others,^ together with a temple
to the Moon-god at Beth-Ziba,^ and one to the Sun-
god at Larsa, or Senkareh."* Altogether there is
reason to believe that he was one of the most indefati-
gable of all the builders that have left their mark upon
the world in which we live. He covered Babylonia with
great works. He was the Augustus of Babylon. He
found it a perishing city of unbaked clay ; he left it
one of durable burnt brick, unless it had been for
human violence, capable of continuing, as the fragment
of the Kasr has continued, to the present day.

1 "Commentary on the Inscriptions of Babylonia and Assyria," p. 76.
'"Records of the Past," vol. v., p. 123.

'Ibid,, p. 124. *Ibid., vol. vii., pp. 71, 72.

6

CHAPTER VII.

NOTICES OF BABYLON IN JEREMIAH AND EZEKIEL.

The Books of Jeremiah and Ezekiel contain numerous
allusions, some prophetic, others historic, to the wars
in which Nebuchadnezzar was engaged, or was to be
engaged. A certain number of these notices refer to
wars, which are also mentioned in Chronicles or
Kings, and which have consequently already engaged
our attention.^ But others touch upon campaigns
which Kings and Chronicles ignore, either on account
of their lying outside the geographic range of the
writer's vision, or from their being subsequent in point
of time to the event which they view as constituting
the close of their narratives. The campaigns in
question are especially those against Tyre and Egypt,
which are touched by both writers, but most emphat-
ically dwelt upon by Ezekiel.

I. The war against Tyre. Ezekiel's description of
this war is as follows : —

'* Thus saith the Lord God ; Behold, I will bring upon Tyrus Nebu-
chadrezzar, king of Babylon, a king of kings, from the north, with
horses and with chariots, and with horsemen, and companies, and much

^ See above, ch. iii.
82

NOTICES IN JEREMIAH AND EZEKIEL. 83

people. He shall slay with the sword thy daughters in the field ; and
he shall make a fort against thee, and cast a mount against thee, and lift
up the buckler against thee. And he shall set engines of war against
thy walls, and with his axes he shall break down thy towers. By reason
of the abundance of his horses, their dust shall cover thee ; thy walls
shall shake at the noise of the horsemen, and of the wheels, and of the
chariots, when he shall enter into thy gates, as men enter into a city
wherein is made a breach. With the hoofs of his horses shall he tread
down all thy streets : he shall slay thy people by the sword, and thy
strong ganisons shall go down to the ground. And they shall make a
spoil of thy riches and make a prey of thy merchandise ; and they shall
break down thy walls, and destroy thy pleasant houses ; and they shall
lay thy stones, and thy timber and thy dust in the midst of the water.
And I will cause the noise of thy songs to cease ; and the sound of thy
harjD shall be no more heard. And I will make thee like the top of a
rock ; thou shalt be a place to spread nets upon ; thou shalt be built no
more, for I, the L'ord, have spoken it, saith the Lord God." — Ezek. xxvi.
7-14.

It is evident, from the entire character of the descrip-
tion, that the city attacked is — mainly, at any rate —
not the island Tyre, but the ancient city upon the
continent, Palaetyrus, as the Greeks called it, which
occupied a position directly opposite to the island,
upon the sea-shore. Nebuchadrezzar, as he is correctly
named,^ fully established in his empire, not merely a
" king of Babylon," but a " king of kings," comes with
such an army as Polyhistor described him as bringing
against Judaea,^ to attack the Phoenician town. He
brings " horses and chariots, and horsemen and com-
panies, and much people." Polyhistor gives him, on

* Nebuchadrezzar exactly corresponds to the Nabu-kudurri-uzur of
the inscriptions.

2 Alex. Polyhist., Fr. 24.

84 BAB YL ON AND E G YPT.

the former occasion, ten thousand chariots, one
hundred and twenty thousand horsemen, and one
hundred and eighty thousand footmen. He proceeds
to invest the city after the fashion commonly adopted
by the Assyrian monarchs, and inherited from them
by the Babylonians. Having constructed a movable
fort or tower, such as we see in the Assyrian bas-
reliefs,^ he brings it against the walls, while at the same
time he " raises a mount " against them, from which to
work his engines and shoot his arrows with the better
effect.^ His men " lift up the buckler," as the Assy-
rians do while they mine the walls or fire the gates ;
while his '* engines " ply their strokes, and his bravest
soldiers, "with axes," or rather " swords" — often used
by the Assyrians for the purpose^ — seek to "break
down the towers." His efforts are successful, and a
breach is made; the horsemen and chariots, as well as
the footmen, enter the town ; there is the usual carnage
and plundering that accompany the storming of a
stronghold ; and, finally, there is a destruction or dis-
mantling of the place, more or less complete.

It is remarkable that the siege and capture of the
island city obtain no distinct mention. Some have
supposed that it was not taken ; but this is scarcely
compatible with the words of the " Lament for Tyre,"
or with the " isles shaking at the sound of her fall "
(Ezek. xxvi. 15, 18). Probably the two cities were so
bound together that the conquest of the one involved

^ "Ancient Monarchies," vol. i., p. 471.

2 Ibid., p. 473. nbid.

NOTICES IN JEREMIAH AND EZEKIEL. 85

the surrender of the other, and Nebuchadnezzar,
master of the Old Tyre, experienced no resistance
from the New.

The annaHsts of Tyre, though httle disposed to
dwell upon a passage of history so painful to patriotic
men, were forced to admit the fact of the siege by
Nebuchadnezzar, and even to give some account of it.
They stated that it took place in the reign of a certain
Ithobalus (Eth-Baal), and that the Tyrians offered a
resistance almost without a parallel. They were
besieged continuously for thirteen years.^ The brief
extracts from their works, which are all that we possess
of them, do not say whether the siege was successful
or the contrary ; but it is scarcely conceivable that the
great monarch would have allowed his efforts to be
baffled, and it is certain that he carried a large number
of Phoenician captives to Babylonia, whom he settled
in various parts of the country.^

The fact of Nebuchadnezzar's siege of Tyre having
lasted thirteen years, throws considerable light on
another passage of Ezekiel. In the twenty-seventh
year of the captivity of Jehoiachin (b.c. 573), the word
of the Lord came to Ezekiel, saying : —

" Son of man, Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon, caused his army to
serve a great service against Tyrus ; eve)y head was made bald, and
every shoulder was peeled; yet had he no wages, nor his army, for
Tyms, for the service that he had served against it. Therefore thus saith

iMenand. Ephes. ap. Joseph. Contr. Ap. i. 21 ; Philostrat. ap. Joseph.
Ant.Jud., X. II, § I.

^Berosus ap. Joseph, Ant. Jiid., 1. s. c.
8

86 BAB YL ON AND L C YP T.

the Lord God : Behold, I will give the land of Egypt unto Nebuchad-
rezzar, king of Babylon j and he shall take her multitude, and take her
spoil, and take her prey ; and it shall be the wages for his army. I
have given him the land of Egypt for his labour wherewith he served
against it, because they wrought for Me, saith the Lord God." — Ezek.
xxix. 18-20.

The extraordinary length of the siege, in which men
grew old and wore themselves out, explains the
phrase, — '* Every head was made bald, and every
shoulder was peeled ; " and at the same time accounts
for the fact that Nebuchadnezzar was considered to
have received no wages, i.e., no sufficient wages, for his
service, which had been very inadequately repaid by
the plunder found in the exhausted city.

11. A great campaign in Egypt. In the year of the
destruction of Jerusalem, Jeremiah prophesied as fol-
lows : —

" Then came the Word of the Lord unto Jeremiah in Tahpanhes,
saying. Take great stones in thine hand, and hide them in the clay in the
brick-kiln, which is at the entry of Pharaoh's house in Tahpanhes, in
the sight of the men of Judah ; and say unto them. Thus saith the Lord
of hosts, the God of Israel : Behold, I will send and take Nebuchad-
rezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will set his throne upon
these stones that I have hid, and he shall spread his royal pavilion over
them. And when he cometh, he shall smite the land of Egypt, and
deliver such as are for death to death ; and such as are for captivity to
captivity ; and such as are for the sword to the sword. And I will
kindle a fire in the houses of the gods of Egypt, and he shall 'burn them,
and carry them away captives : and he shall array himself with the land
of Egypt, as a shepherd putteth on his garment ; and he shall go forth
from thence in peace. He shall break also the images of Beth-shemesh,
that is in the land of Egypt ; and the houses of the gods of the Egyptians
shall he burn with fire." — ^Jer. xliii. 8-13.

NOTICES IN JEREMIAH AND EZEKIEL. 87

Some time afterwards he delivered another prophecy
(xlvi. 13-26) equally explicit, in which Migdol, Noph
(Memphis), Tahpanhes (Daphnae), and No-Ammon
(Thebes) were threatened; and the delivery of the
entire country and people into the hand of Nebuchad-
rezzar, king of Babylon, and into the hand of his
servants, was foretold.

Ezekiel delivered seven prophecies against Egypt,
all of them having more or less reference to Babylon
as the power which was to bring ruin upon the country,
and two of them mentioning Nebuchadrezzar by name,
as the monarch who was to inflict the chastisement
(Ezek. xxix. 18, 19; xxx. 10). These prophecies are
too long to quote in full. They are chiefly remarkable
as declaring the complete desolation of Egypt, and as
fixing a term of years during which her degradation
should continue. In chap. xxx. we find among the
places which are to suffer, Sin or Pelusium, Zoan or
Tanis, On or Heliopolis, Noph or Memphis, Tahpanhes
or Daphnae, Pibeseth or Bubastis, and No-Ammon or
Thebes. In chap. xxix. an even wider area is included.
There we are told that the land of Egypt was to be
" utterly waste and desolate from Migdol to Syene,^
even unto the border of Ethiopia" (ver. 10). The
time of Egypt's affliction is fixed at " forty years "
(vers. 11-13), after which it is to recover, but to be a
'' base kingdom," " the basest of the kingdoms " (ver.

^ There is no doubt that this is the proper rendering. " From the
tower of Syene even unto the border of Ethiopia" would have no
meaning, since Syene bordered on Ethiopia.

BAB YL ON AND EG YPT.

15), no more "exalted above the nations," no more a
ruler over nations external to itself.

By the date of one of Ezekiel's prophecies (chap.
xxix. 17-20), which is B.C. 573, it is evident that the
great invasion prophesied had not then taken place,
but was still impending. Nebuchadnezzar's attack
must consequently be looked for towards the latter
part of his long reign, which terminated in B.C. 562,
according to the Canon of Ptolemy.

Until recently it would have been impossible to
adduce any historical confirmation, or indeed illustra-
tion, of these prophecies. They were quoted by
sceptical writers as prophecies that had been unfulfilled.
Herodotus, it was remarked, knew nothing of any
invasion of Egypt by the Asiatics during the reigns of
either Apries or Amasis, with whom Nebuchadnezzar
was contemporary, much less of any complete devasta-
tion of the entire territoiy by them. It was true that
Josephus, anxious to save the reputation of his sacred
books, spoke of an invasion of Egypt by Nebuchad-
nezzar later than the destruction of Jerusalem, and
even made him kill one king and set up another.^
But he placed these events in the fifth year after the
fall of Jerusalem, that is in B.C. 581, whereas Eze-
kiel's date, in his twenty-ninth chapter, showed that
they had not happened by B.C. 573. Moreover, he
contradicted Egyptian history, which gave no change
of sovereign till ten years after the time mentioned,
or B.C. 571.

i"Ant. Jud." X. 9, § 7.

NOTICES IN JEREMIAH AND EZEKIEL. 89

It was difficult to meet these objectors formerly.
Within the last few years, however, light has been
thrown on the subject from two inscriptions — one
Egyptian, which had been long known, but not rightly
understood ; the other Babylonian, which was not
discovered till 1878. The Egyptian inscription is on
a statue in the Louvre, which was originally set up at
Elephantine by a certain Nes-Hor, an official of high
rank whom Apries, the Egyptian monarch called in
Scripture '* Pharaoh-Hophra, " had made "Governor
of the south." This officer, according to the latest
and best interpretation of his inscription,^ writes as
follows : — '* I have caused to be made ready my statue ;
my name will be perpetuated by means of it ; it will
not perish in this temple, inasmuch as I took care of
the house, when it was injured by the foreign hordes
of the Syrians, the people of the north, the Asiatics,
and the profane [who intended evil] in their heart ; for
it lay in their heart to rise up, to bring into subjection
the upper country. But the fear of thy majesty was
upon them ; they gave up what their heart had
planned. I did not let them advance to Konosso, but
I let them approach the place where thy majesty was.
Then thy majesty made an [expedition] against them."

It results from this inscription, that, while Apries
was still upon the throne, there was an invasion of
Egypt from the north. A host of Asiatics, whom the
writer calls Amii, i.e. Syrians, or, at any rate, Semites

^ See Dr. Wiedemann's paper in the " Zeitschrift fiir ^gypt. Sprache "
for 1878, p. 4.
8*

90 BAB YL ON AND EGYPT.

from the direction of Syria, poured into the country,
and, carrying all before them, advanced up the valley
of the Nile, threatening the subjection of the '* upper
country." Memphis and Thebes must have fallen,
since the invaders reached Elephantine. Apparently
they were bent on subduing, not only Egypt, but
Ethiopia. But Nes-Hor checked their advance, he
prevented them from proceeding further, he even
forced them to fall back towards the north, and brought
them into contact with an army which Apries had
collected against them. The result of the contact is
not mentioned; but the invaders must have retired,
since Nes-Hor is able to embellish and repair the great
temple of Kneph, which they have injured, and to set
up his statue in it.

The other inscription is, unfortunately, very frag-
mentary. The tablet on which it was written was of
small size, and allowed space for only thirty — not very
long — lines. All the lines are more or less mutilated.
Of the first and second one word only remains ; of the
twenty-fifth and twenty-eighth, only one letter. The
twenty-ninth is wholly obliterated. The termination
alone remains of the last seven. Some lacunae occur
in all the others. Still, the general purport is plain.
Nebuchadnezzar addresses Merodach, and says, — " My
enemies thou usedst to destroy ; thou caus'edst my
heart to rejoice ... in those days thou madest my
hands to capture ; thou gavest me ^ rest ; . . . thou
causedst me to construct ; my kingdom thou madest
to increase. . . . Over them kings thou exaltedst;

NOTICES IN JEREMIAH AND EZEKIEL. 91

his warriors, his princes, his paths, Hke ... he made
... to his army he trusted ... he hastened before
the great gods. [In the] thirty-seventh year of
Nebuchadnezzar king of the country [of Babylon,
Nebuchadnezzar] to Egypt to make war went. [His
army Ama]sis, king of Egypt, collected, and . . . [his
soldiers] went, they spread abroad. As for me (?)
.... a remote district, which is in the middle of the
sea .... many . . . from the midst of the country
of Egypt .... soldiers, horses, and chariots (?)...
for his help he assembled and ... he looked before
him .... to his [army] he trusted and . . . fixed a
command."^

Nebuchadnezzar, evidently, in this inscription, speaks
of an expedition which he personally conducted into
Egypt, as late as his thirty-seventh year, which was
B.C. 568, five years later than the date of Ezekiel's
dated prophecy. The king, however, against whom
he made war, was not Apries, whose name in Egyptian
was Ua-ap-ra, but apparently Amasis, his successor,
since it ended in -su, probably in -asu? This may seem
to be an objection against referring the two inscriptions
to the same events, since Apries was still king when
that of Nes-Hor was set up. But a reference to
Egyptian history removes this difficulty. Amasis, it
appears, ascended the throne in B.C. 571 ; but Apries

^"Transactions of Society of Biblical Archaeology," vol. vii., pp.
218-222.

^ See the inscription in the "Transactions of Bibl. Arch. Soc," vol.
vii., p. 220, reverse, line i.

92 BAB YL ON AND EGYPT.

did not die until b. c. 565. For six years the two
monarchs inhabited the same palace at Sais/ and both
bore the royal title. An Egyptian monument distinctly
recognizes the double reign ;^ the expedition of Nebu-
chadnezzar, being in B.C. 568, exactly falls into this
interval. It was natural that Nebuchadnezzar should
mention the active young king, who had the real
power, and was his actual antagonist ; it was equally
natural that Nes-Hor, an old employe under Apries,
should ignore the upstart, and seek to do honour to
his old master.

Other wars of Nebuchadnezzar are thought to be
glanced at in Scripture, as one with Elam,^ to which
there may be allusion in Jer. xlix. 34-38, and Ezek.
xxxii. 24 ; one with the Moabites, perhaps in Ezek.
XXV. 8-1 1 ; and one with Ammon, touched upon in
Ezek. xxi. 20, 28-32, and xxv: 4-7. Josephus relates
it as a historical fact, that he reduced both the Moabites
and the Ammonites to subjection ;^ and there are some
grounds for thinking that he also made himself master
of Elam ; but it cannot be said that these events are
either confirmed or illustrated by profane writers, who
make no distinct mention of any of his wars, except
those with the Jews, the Phoenicians, and the Egyptians.

It was, however, widely recognized in antiquity that
Nebuchadnezzar was a great general. His exploits

1 Herod, ii. 169.

2 Champollion, "Monuments de I'Egypte," vol. iv., p. 443, No. I.

3 G. Smith, " History of Babylonia," pp. 157, 158.
* Joseph., "Ant. Jud.," x. 9, g 7.

NOTICES IN JEREMIAH AND EZEKIEL. 93

were enormously exaggerated, since he was believed
by some^ to have conquered all North Africa and
Spain, as well as the country between Armenia and
the Caspian. But there was a basis of truth under-
lying the exaggerations. Nebuchadnezzar, at a com-
paratively early age, defeated Pharaoh-Necho at the
great battle of Carchemish, conquered Coelesyria,
and reduced Judaea to vassalage. Somewhat later he
engaged in the difficult enterprise of capturing Tyre,
and exhibited a rare spirit of persistence and perse-
verance in his long siege of that town. His capture
of Jerusalem, after a siege of eighteen months (2
Kings XXV. 1-4), was creditable to him, since Samaria,
a place of far less strength, was not taken by the
Assyrians until it had been besieged for three years
(2 Kings xvii. 5). The reduction of Elam, if we may
ascribe it to him, redounds still more to his honour,
since the Elamites were a numerous and powerful
nation, which had contended on almost even terms
with the Assyrians from the time of Sargon to the
close of the empire. The judgment of a good gen-
eral was shown in the subjugation of Moab and
Ammon, for it is essential to the security of Syria and
Palestine that the tribes occupying the skirt of the
great eastern desert shall be controlled and their
ravages prevented. In Egypt Nebuchadnezzar prob-
ably met his most powerful adversary, since under
the rule of the Psammetichi Egypt had recovered
almost her pristine vigour. Thus in this quarter the
^ As Megasthenes and Abydenus.

94 BAB YLON AND EG YPT.

struggle for supremacy was severe and greatly pro-
longed. He contended with three successive Egyptian
kings — Necho, Apries or Hophra, and Amasis. From
Necho he took the whole tract between Carchemish
and the Egyptian frontier. Apries feared to meet him,
and, after a futile demonstration, gave up the interfer-
ence which he had meditated (Jer. xxxvii. 7). Amasis,
who had perhaps provoked him by his expedition
against Cyprus,^ which Nebuchadnezzar would natu-
rally regard as his, he signally punished by ravaging
his whole territory, injuring the temples, destroying
or carrying off the images of the gods, and making
prisoners of many of the inhabitants. It is possible
that he did more than this. Egypt's degradation was
to last for a long term of years.^ It is not unlikely
that Amasis became the vassal of Nebuchadnezzar,
and his peaceful reign, and the material prosperity of
his country,^ were the result of a compact by which
he acknowledged the suzerainty of Babylon, and
bowed his head to a foreign yoke.

1 Herod, ii. 182.

2 "Forty years" (Ezek. xxix. 11-13); but "forty years," in prophetic
language, is not to be taken literally.
3 Herod, ii. 177.

CHAPTER VIII.

FURTHER NOTICES OF BABYLON IN EZEKIEL.
"A land of traffick ... a city of merchants." — Ezek. xvii. 4.

This allusion to the commercial character of Babylon
does not stand alone and unsupported in Scripture.
Isaiah speaks of the Babylonian "merchants" (Isa.
xlvii. 15), and describes the Chaldaeans as persons
"whose cry is in their ships" (chap, xliii. 14). Ezekiel
mentions Canneh (Calneh), and Chilmad, Babylonian
towns, among the places that carried on commercial
dealings with Tyre (Ezek. xxvii. 23). In the Revela-
tion of St. John the Divine, Babylon is made the type
of a city, which is represented as eminently commer-
cial, as dealing in the "merchandise of gold, and
silver, and precious stones, and of pearls, and fine
linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and all thyine
wood, and all manner vessels of ivory, and all manner
vessels of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron,
and marble, and cinnamon, and odours, and ointments,
and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and
wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and horses, and chariots,
and slaves, and the souls of men" (Rev. xviii. 12, 13).

95

96 BABYLON AND EG YP T.

The object of the present chapter will be to show
that the notices of Babylon in profane writers and in
the inscriptions fully bear out the character thus
assigned to her, showing that she was the centre of an
enormous land and sea commerce, which must have
given occupation to thousands of merchants, and have
necessitated the employment of numerous ships.

Nothing is more evident in the Babylonian inscrip-
tions, and also in those of Assyria which treat of
Babylonian affairs, than the large amount of curious
woods, and the quantity of alabaster and other stone,
which was employed in the great constructions of the
Babylonians, and which must necessarily have been
imported from foreign countries. Babylonia being
entirely alluvial is wholly destitute of stone, and the
only trees of any size that it produces are the cypress
and the palm.^ We find the Babylonian monarchs
employing in their temples and palaces abundant pine
and cedar trees, together with many other kinds of
wood, which it is impossible to identify. Mention is
made of '' Babil-v^ ood,'' '' iimritgaiia-vjood,'' '' uinma-
ka7ia-\NOo6.,'' "r/-wood," '' ikki-v^ood,'' '' surinan-\NOod,''
'' asuhu-wood,'' '' imisritkamia-^NOod',' and '' incsiikan-
wood."^ Modern exploration has shown that among
the building materials employed was teak,^ but whether
any one of these obscure names designates that species
of timber is uncertain. What seems plain is that all

1 See the author's "Ancient Monarchies," vol. iii., pp. 36, 38.

2 "Records of the Past," vol. v., pp. 117-1335 ^'ol- ^'^^•■> P- 75-

3 "Journal of the R. Asiat. Society," vol. xv., p. 264.

NOTICES IN EZEKIEL. 97

these woods must have been imported. The teak
must have come either from India, or possibly from
one of the islands in the Persian Gulf;^ there is
evidence that the cedars and pines, together with
the Babil-wood, were imported from Syria, being
furnished by the forests that clothed the sides
of Mounts Libanus and Amanus;^ there is no
evidence with respect to the remainder, but they
may have been derived from either Armenia, Assyria,
or Susiana.

Among the kinds of stone commonly used in build-
ing which must necessarily have been imported, were
"alabaster blocks," '' zamat stone," '' durmina-turda
and kamina-tiirda stone, zamat-Jiati stone, and lapis
lazuli."^ Xenophon speaks of the importation of
"millstones" in his own day;^ and, as Babylonia
could not furnish them, they must always have come
in from without. Sandstone and basalt, which are
found in some of the ruins, could have been obtained
from the adjacent parts of Arabia; but the alabaster,
which has been also found, and the lapis lazuli, which
was especially affected for adornment, must have been
brought from a greater distance.

Stones of the rarer and more precious kinds were
also largely imported, to serve either as seals or as

1 As Heeren thinks, on the strength of a passage of Theophrastus
("As. Nat.," vol ii., pp. 258, 259).

2 " Records of the Past," vol. v., p. 119; vol. ix., p. 16; "Transactions
of Bibl. Arch. Society," vol. vii., p. 154.

3 "Records of the Past," vol. v., pp. 121, 125-127; vol. vii., p. 76, etc,

*Xen., "Anab.," i. 5, ? 5.
7

98 BAB YL ON AND EGYPT,

ornaments of the person. Herodotus tells us that
" every Babylonian carried a seal ; " ^ and the remains
tend to confirm his testimony, since Babylonian seals,
either in the shape of signet rings or of cylinders,
exist by thousands in European museums, and are
still found in large numbers by explorers. They are
chiefly made of onyx, jasper, serpentine, meteoric
stone, lapis lazuli, and chalcedony, all substances that
must have been introduced from abroad, since no one
of them is produced by Babylonia.

Babylonia must also have imported, or else carried
off from foreign countries, the whole of its metals.
Neither gold, nor silver, nor copper, nor tin, nor lead,
nor iron are among the gifts which Nature has vouch-
safed to the southern Mesopotamian region. No doubt
her military successes enabled her to obtain from foreign
lands, not by exchange but by plunder, considerable
supplies of these commodities ; but besides this acci-
dental and irregular mode of acquisition, there must
have been some normal and unceasing source of
supply, to prevent disastrous fluctuations, and secure
a due provision for the constant needs of the country.
Every implement used in agriculture or in the
mechanical trades had to be made of bronze,^ the
materials of which came from afar; copper perhaps
from Armenia, which still produces it largely, tin from
Further India, or from Cornwall, through the medium

* Herod., i. 195.

2 Iron was not absolutely unknown in ancient Babylonia; but almost
all the weapons and implements found are of bronze.

NOTICES IN EZEKIEL.

99

of the Phoenicians.^ Every weapon of war had to be
supplied similarly; all the gold and silver lavished
on the doors and walls of temples,^ on images of the
gods or the dresses in which the images were clothed,^
on temple tables, altars, or couches,^ on palace walls
and roofs,^ on thrones, sceptres, parasols, chariots, and
the like,^ or on bracelets, armlets, and other articles
of personal adornment, had to be procured from some
foreign land and to be conveyed hundreds or thousands
of miles before the Babylonians could make use of
them.

Another whole class of commodities which the
Babylonians are believed to have obtained from foreign
countries comprises the raw materials for their clothes,
and for the greater part of their fabrics.^ Babylonia
was not a country suitable for the rearing of sheep,
and, if it produced wool at all, produced it only in
small quantities ; yet the Babylonian wore ordinarily
two woolen garments,^ and some of their most famous
fabrics were of the same material. Their other
clothes were either linen or cotton ; but, so far as is
known, neither flax nor the cotton plant was cultivated
by them.

Spices constituted another class of imports. In

^ Herod., iii, 115,

2 "Records of the Past," vol. v., pp. 117-120; vol. vii., p. 75.

^ Ibid., vol. vii., pp. 5, 6.

* Herod., i. 181, 183 ; Diod. Sic, ii. 9.

^ " Records of the Past," vol. v., pp. 131, 133.

®Ibid., vol. ix., p. 15.

^Heeren, "Asiatic Nations," vol. ii., p. 199. ^ Herod., i. 195.

BAB YLON AND EG YPT.

their religious ceremonies the Babylonians consumed
frankincense ^ on an enormous scale ; and they
employed it likewise in purifications.^ They also
used aromatic reeds in their sacrifices,^ as did the Jews
who were brought into contact with them.* Whether
they imported cinnamon fi-om Ceylon or India,^ may
perhaps be doubted ; but the spices of Arabia were
certainly in request, and formed the material of a
regular traffic.^

All the wine consumed in Babylonia was imported
from abroad. Babylonia was too hot, and probably
also too moist, for the vine, which was not cultivated
in any part of the country.^ A sort of spirit was
distilled from dates, which the Greeks called '* palm-
wine," ^ and this was drunk by the common people.
But the wealthier classes could be content with nothing
less than the juice of the grape ;^ and hence there was
a continuous importation of real wine into the country ,^^
where there prevailed a general luxuriousness of living.
The trade must consequently have been considerable,
and is not likely to have been confined to a single
channel. There were several vine-growing countries
not very remote from Babylon ; and a brisk commerce
was in all probability carried on with most of them.

Among other probable imports may be mentioned

1 Herod., i. 183. 2ibid., i. 198.

2 "Records of the Past," vol. vii., p. 140. * Jer. vi, 20.

^ As Heeren supposes ("As. Nat.," vol. ii., p. 240).
^Strabo, xvi. mo. " Herod., i. 193.

^Ibid. »Dan. i. 5; v. i. . ^'^ Herod., i. 194.

NOTICES IN EZEKIEL.

ivory and ebony, for the construction of rich furniture,
pearls for personal adornment, rare woods for walking-
sticks, dyes, Indian shawls, musical instruments, Phoe-
nician asses, Indian dogs, and Persian greyhounds.

Ivory and ebony which were brought to Solomon
as early as B.C. looo (i Kings x. 22), and which Tyre
imported from Dedan, on the Persian Gulf, in the time
of Ezekiel (Ezek. xxvii. 15), can scarcely have been
unknown to the Babylonians, through whose territory
the Phoenician trade with Dedan must have passed.
Pearls, which were worn by the Assyrians,^ and
supplied to Western Asia generally from the famous
fisheries of Bahrein and Karrak, in the Persian Gulf,^
were doubtless as much appreciated by the Babylo-
nians as by other Asiatics ; and the pearl merchants
can scarcely have been permitted to carry their
precious wares into the interior without leaving a fair
share of them to the country whereto they must have
brought them first of all. Rare wood for walking-
sticks is mentioned as grown in Tylos,^ another island
in the Gulf, and would naturally be transported to the
neighbouring country, where walking-sticks were in
universal use.* The dyes which gave to Babylonian
fabrics their brilliant hues came probably from India
or Kashmir, and were furnished by the Indian larva or
the cochineal insect.^ With their dyes the Indians

1" Ancient Monarchies," vol. i., p. 559.
'^ Heeren, " As. Nat.," vol. ii., pp. 235-237.
^Theophrast., "Hist. Plant.," v. 6.

* Herod., i. 195. ^ggg Heeren, p. 200.

9*

I02 BAB YL ON AND EGYPT.

would probably send their shawls, an early product of
Hindoo industry, and one from time immemorial
highly valued in the East.^ The importation of
musical instruments may be regarded as proved, if we
allow any of the names used in Daniel to be derived
from the Greek, since the Greek name could only
reach Babylon together with the instrument whereto
it belonged. Phoenician asses are expressly mentioned,
as sold by one Babylonian to another, on one of the
black contract stones found at Babylon,^ as are " grey-
hounds from the East," which were most probably
Persian. A large dog, most likely an Indian hound,
is represented on a tablet brought by Sir H. Rawlinson
from the same site,^ and the representation is a fairly
good proof of the importation of the animal portrayed.
It is impossible for a country to import largely
unless it also exports largely, either its own products
or those of other regions. In the long run exports
and imports must balance each other. Babylonia
seems to have exported chiefly its own manufactures.
Large weaving establishments existed in various parts
of the country ; ^ and fabrics issued from the Baby-
lonian looms which were highly esteemed by foreign
nations. The texture was exquisite; the dyes were
of remarkable brilliancy ; and the workmanship was
superior. The " Babylonish garment " found among
the spoils of Jericho when the Israelites entered the

^See Heeren, p. 209. 2 « Records of the Past," vol. ix., p. 105.
3 See the author's " Herodotus," vol. i., p. 314.
* Strab., xvi., p. 1074.

NOTICES IN EZEKIEL. 103

Holy Land, and coveted by Achan/ is an evidence at
once of the high esteem in which such fabrics were
held, and of the distance to which, even thus early,
they had been exported. Fringed and striped robes
of seemingly delicate material appear on Babylonian
cylinders ^ as early as the Proto-Chaldaean period, or
before b. c. 2000. We cannot fix their material ; but
perhaps they were of the class called " sindones,"
which appear to have been muslins of extreme fineness,
and of brilliant hues, and which in later times were set
apart for royal use.^

The carpets of Babylon acquired a peculiar reputa-
tion.^ Carpets are one of the principal objects of
luxury in the East, where not only are the floors of
the reception-rooms in all houses of a superior class
covered with them, but they even form the coverlets
of beds, couches, divans, and sofas, and are thus the
main decoration of apartments. The carpets of Baby-
lon were made of fine wool, skilfully woven, exquisite
in their colours, and boasting patterns that gave them
a character of piquancy and originality. They bore
representations of griffins and other fabulous animals,^
which excited the wonder and admiration of foreigners,
who did not know whether they beheld mere freaks
of fancy or portraits of the wonderful beasts of Lower
Asia.

Besides their dresses, carpets, and other textile

^ Josh. vii. 21. 2 u Ancient Monarchies," vol. i., p. 94.

^Theophrast., "Hist. Plant.," iv. 9.

* Arrian, " Exp. Alex.," vi. 29. ^ Athen. Deipn., v., p. 197.

I04 BAB YL ON AND EGYPT.

fabrics, it may be suspected that Babylonia exported
rich furniture. When the Assyrian monarchs invaded
a foreign territory, and obtained any considerable
success, they almost universally carried off, on their
return to their own land, great part of the furniture of
any royal palace that fell into their hands, as the most
valued portion of their booty. In their Babylonian
expeditions alone, however, do they particularize the
several objects. There we find mention of the golden
throne, the golden parasol, the golden sceptre, the
silver chariot," ^ and other articles that cannot be iden-
tified. There, too, we find that when a foreign prince
needed persuading in order to make him render assist-
ance, and a '' propitiatory offering " had to be sent to
him, '* a throne in silver, a parasol in silver, 2, pasur in
silver, and a ninnaktu in silver" were the objects sent.^
It would only have been going a short step further to
offer articles so highly appreciated to foreign customers
generally.

It is uncertain whether the Babylonians exported
grain, or dates, or any of the other produce of the
palm.^ Enormous quantities of wheat, barley, millet,
and sesame were raised in their country,'^ while the
date palm grew so thickly in the lower parts of the
territory as to form almost a continuous forest.^ The
natural wealth of the country consisted mainly in the

' " Records of the Past," vol. ix., p. 15. 2 \\,\^^^ vol. vii., p. 45.

^ The palm was said to furnish the Babylonians with bread, wine,
vinegar, honey, groats, string and ropes of all kinds, and a mash for
cattle (Strab., xvi. I, \ 14).

* Herod., i. 193. * Amm. Marc, xxiv. 3.

NOTICES IN EZEKIEL. 105

abundance of these products, and it is scarcely pos-
sible that use was not made of the overplus beyond the
wants of the inhabitants to maintain the balance of
trade, which in so luxurious an empire must always
have tended to declare itself as^ainst such r^reat con-
sumers. But ancient writers are rarely interested in
such matters as trade and commerce, while the prob-
lems of political economy are wholly unknown to
them. Hence they unfortunately leave us in the dark
on numerous points which to us seem of primary
importance, and force us to attempt to grope our way
by reasonable conjecture.

We shall pass now from the consideration of the
probable objects of traffic between Babylonia and other
countries to that of the nature of the traffic, and the
probable or certain direction of its various lines. Now
the traffic was, beyond all doubt, carried on in part by
land and in part by sea, the Babylonians not only
having dealings with their continental neighbours, but
also carrying on a commerce with islands and countries
which were reached in ships.

The land traffic itself was of two kinds. Caravans
composed of large bodies of merchants, with their
attendants and followers, proceeded from Babylon in
various directions across the continent, carrying with
them, on the backs of camels or asses, the native com-
modities which they desired to sell, and returning after
a time with such foreign productions as were needed
or desired by the Babylonians. Regular routes were
established which these travelling companies pursued ;

io6 BAB YL ON AND E G YPT.

and it is not unlikely that stations, or caravansarais,
were provided for their accommodation at intervals.^
The mass of the persons composingthe caravans would
travel on foot; but the richer traders would be mounted
on camels, or even sometimes on horses. It would be
necessary to be well armed in order to resist the attacks
of predatory tribes, or organized bands of robbers;^
and the caravans would require to be numerous for
the same reason. There would be no great difference
between these ancient companies and the caravans of
the present day, except to some extent in the commo-
dities conveyed, and in the absence of any other than
a commercial motive.^

Other traders preferred to convey their goods along
the courses of the great rivers, which, intersecting
Mesopotamia either as main streams or tributaries,
form natural channels of commercial intercourse with
the neighbouring countries, at any rate, for a con-
siderable distance. Boats and rafts readily descended
the Tigris, the Euphrates, and their affluents,^ and
transported almost without effort the produce of
Commagene, Armenia, and Media to the lower
Mesopotamian territory. It was possible by the use
of sails and by tracking to mount the rivers in certain
seasons ; and this we know to have been done on the
Euphrates as high as Thapsacus.^ Water-carriage

1 See Herod., v. 52, who, however, speaks of Persian times.

* See Ezra, viii. 22.

3 The religious motive of pilgrimage to certain shrines swells the size
of modern caravans.

* Herod., i. 194. ^Strab., xvi. 4, § 18.

NOTICES IN EZEKIEL. 107

was especially convenient for the conveyance of heavy
goods, such as stone for building or for statuary,
obelisks, and the like. Both the monuments and
profane writers indicate that it was employed for these
purposes.^

The principal lines of land traffic seem to have
been five. One, which may be called the Western,
was along the course of the Euphrates to about lat.
34° 30', when it struck across due west to Tadmor, or
Palmyra, and thence proceeded by way of Damascus
to Tyre and Sidon. Traces of the employment of
this route are found in Ezekiel (chap, xxvii. 18, 23,
24). Along it would be conveyed the whole of the
Phoenician trade, including the important imports of
tin, Tyrian purple, musical instruments, asses of supe-
rior quality, and possibly wine of Helbon, together
with the exports of rich stuffs, dresses, and embroidery.

Another kept to the line of the Euphrates through-
out, and may be called the North-Western route. It
connected Babylon with Upper Mesopotamia and
Armenia. Along this was conveyed wine, and prob-
ably copper; perhaps also other metals. It was a
route used by Armenian merchants, who descended
the stream in round boats, made of wicker-work
covered with skins, and, having sold their wares, broke
up the boats and returned on foot to their own
country.^ It was used also by the Babylonian col-
onists of the Persian Gulf, who mounted the stream

1 "Ancient Monarchies," vol. i., p. 338; Diod. Sic, ii. II.

2 Herod., i. 194.

io8 BAB YL ON AND EGYPT.

as far as Thapsacus, and thence carried their goods by
land in various directions.^

The third route was towards the North. It con-
nected Babylon with Assyria, and probably followed
mainly the line of the Tigris, which it may have struck
in the vicinity of the great mart of Opis. The trade
between the two countries of Babylonia and Assyria
was, in the flourishing times of the latter country,
highly valued ; and we find frequent provision made
for its restoration or continuance in the treaties which
from time to time were concluded between the two
powers.^ The alabaster blocks which the Babylonians
sometimes employed in their buildings came probably
by this line, and the two countries no doubt inter-
changed various manufactured products.

A fourth line of land trade, and one of great import-
ance, was that towards the North-east, which may be
called the Medo-Bactrian. This line, after crossing
Mount Zagros by the way of Holwan and Behistun, was
directed upon the Median capital of Ecbatana, whence
it was prolonged, by way of Rhages and the Caspian
Gates, to Balkh, Herat, and Cabul.^ The lapis lazuli,
which the Babylonians employed extensively, can only
have come from Bactria,^ and probably arrived by this
route, along which may also have travelled much of
the gold imported into Babylon, many of the gems,

1 Strab., 1. s. c.

2 " Records of the Past," vol. iii., pp. 34, 35 ; vol. v., p. 90.

3 Heeren, "Asiatic Nations," vol. ii., pp. 203, 209-211.
* Ibid., p. 206.

NOTICES IN EZEKIEL. 109

the fine wool, the shawls, the Indian dyes, and the
Indian dogs.

The fifth line was towards the East and South-east.
At first it ran nearly due east to Susa, but thence it
was deflected, and continued on to the south-east,
through Persepolis, to Kerman (Carmania). Wool
was probably imported in large quantities by this
route, together with onyxes fi-om the Choaspes,^ cotton,
and the "greyhounds of the East."^

The sea trade of the Babylonians was primarily
with the Persian Gulf Here they had an important
settlement on the southern coast, called Gerrha, which
had a large land traffic with the interior of Arabia,
and carried its merchandise to Babylon in ships.^ The
"ships of Ur" are often mentioned in the early inscrip-
tions,^ and the latter ones show that numerous vessels
were always to be found in the ports at the head of
the gulf, and that the Babylonians readily crossed the
gulf when occasion required.^ It is uncertain whether
they adventured themselves beyond its mouth into the
Indian Ocean; but there is reason to believe that by
some means or other they obtained Indian commodi-
ties which would have come most readily by this
route. The teak found in their buildings, the ivory
and ebony which they almost certainly used, the cin-
namon and the cotton, in the large quantities in which

^Dionys. Perieg., 11, 1073-1077. ^ggg above, p. 100.

^Strab. xvi. 4, | 18 ; Agathemer, "De Mar. Eiythr.," \ 87.
* "Ancient Monarchies," vol. i., p. 16, note i.

^"Records of the Past," vol. i., pp. 40, 43, 73; vol. vii., p. 63; vol.
ix., p. 60.
10

I lo BAB YLON AND EG YPT.

they needed it, can only have come from the peninsula
of Hindustan, and cannot be supposed to have travelled
by the circuitous road of Cabul and Bactria. Arabian
spices were conveyed by the Gerrhaeans in their ships
to Babylon itself, and the rest of the trade of the
Gulf was probably chiefly in their hands. Perfumes
of all kinds, pearls, wood for shipbuilding and walking-
sticks, cotton, gems, gold, Indian fabrics, flowed into
the Chaldaean capital from the sea, and were mostly
brought to it in ships up the Euphrates, and deposited
on the quays at the merchants' doors, ^schylus calls
the Babylonians who served in the army of Xerxes
"navigators of ships." ^ Commercial dealings among
the dwellers in the city on a most extensive scale are
disclosed by the Egibi tablets;^ "spice merchants"
appear among the witnesses to deeds.^ Their own
records and the accounts of the Greeks are thus in
the completest agreement with the Prophet when he
describes Babylon as " a land of traffick ... a city of
merchants,"

1 "^schyl. Pers,, 11. 52-55.

2 "Transactions of the Society of Biblical Archgeology," vol, vii., pp.
1-78,

3 "Records of the Past," vol, xi,, p, 94.

CHAPTER IX.

FURTHER NOTICES OF BABYLON IN DANIEL.

" Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his lords,
and drank wine before the thousand. Belshazzar, whiles he tasted the
wine, commanded to bring the gold and silver vessels which his father,
Nebuchadnezzar, had taken out of the temple which was in Jemsalem ;
that the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, might
drink therein. Then they brought the golden vessels that were taken
out of the temple of the house of God that was at Jerusalem ; and the
king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, drank in them.
They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass,
of iron, of wood, and of stone." — Dan. v. 1-4.

The main difficulties connected with the Book of
Daniel open upon us with the commencement of
chapter v. A new king- makes his appearance — a king
unknown to profane historians, and declared by some
critics to be a purely fictitious personage.^ We have
to consider at the outset who this Belshazzar can be.
Does he represent any king known to us under any
other name in profane history? Can we find a trace of
him in the inscriptions ? Or is he altogether an obscure
and mysterious personage, of whose very existence
we have no trace outside Daniel, and who must there-

1 See De Wette, « Einleitung in das Alt. Test.," p. 255 a.

Ill

112 BABYL ON AND EG YPT.

fore always constitute an historical difficulty of no
small magnitude ?

Now, in the first place, he is represented as the son
of Nebuchadnezzar (vers. 2, ii, 13, 18, 22). The only
son of Nebuchadnezzar of whom we have any mention
in profane history is Evil-Merodach,^ who succeeded
his father in B.C. 562, and reigned somewhat less than
two years, ascending the throne in Tisri of B.C. 562,
and ceasing to reign in Ab of B.C. 560.^ It has been
suggested that the Belshazzar of Daniel is this
monarch.^

The following are the chief objections to this
theory : — (a) There is no reason to suppose that Evil-
Merodach ever bore any other name, or was known to
the Jews under one designation, to the Babylonians
under another. He appears in the Book of Kings
under his rightful name of Evil-Merodach (2 Kings
XXV. 27), and again in the Book of Jeremiah (Jer. lii.
31). Unless we have distinct evidence of a monarch
having borne two names, it is to the last degree
uncritical to presume it. {6) The third year of
Belshazzar is mentioned in Daniel (ch. viii. i). Evil-
Merodach is assigned two years only by Ptolemy,
Berosus, and Abydenus;* the latest date upon his
tablets is his second year; he actually reigned no more

^ Mentioned by Berosus, Fr. 14 ; Polyhistor (ap. Euseb., " Chron.
Can." i. 5), and Abydenus (ap. Euseb. i. lo). He appears in the
Babylonian dated tablets as Avil-Marduk.

2 " Transactions of Bib, Arch. Soc," vol. vi., pp. 25, 26.

^ So Hupfeld and Havernick.

* Ptol., " Mag. Syntax.," v. 14; Beros., 1. s. c. , Abyden., 1. s. c.

NOTICES IN DANIEL.

than a year and ten months, (c) Evil-Merodach was
put to death by his brother-in-law, Nerighssar, in b. c.
560. Babylon was at this time under no peril from
the Medes and Persians, to whom the death of
Belshazzar appears to be attributed (vers. 28-30). (^)
The identification of Belshazzar with Evil-Merodach
involves that of " Darius the Median " (ver. 31) with
Nerighssar, who was not a Mede, and had a name as
remote as possible from that of Darius.

If Belshazzar be not Evil-Merodach, can he be
Nerighssar? Here the name is not so great a difficulty.
For, in the first place, the two words have two elements
in common. Nerighssar is in the Babylonian, Nergal-
sar-uzur, while Belshazzar is Bel-sar-uzur. Moreover,
it was not an unknown thing in Babylonia and Assyria
to substitute in a royal designation the name of one
god for another.^ But, per contra^ (a) Nergal was a
god so distinct from Bel, that we can scarcely imagine
such a substitution as Bel for Nergal having been
allowable, {b) Neriglissar was the son-in-law, not the
son, of Nebuchadnezzar, {c) He appears to have died
peaceably, and to have been succeeded by his son,
Labasi-Merodach (Labossoracus),^ instead of being
" slain " suddenly, and succeeded by a Darius. It
seems therefore impossible that the Belshazzar of
Daniel can be Neriglissar.

Is he, then, as Josephus supposed, Nabonidus?^
Nabonidus, according to Ptolemy and Berosus, was the

^ " Transactions of Bib. Arch. Soc," vol. vi., p. 28.
2 Berosus, 1. s. c. " Joseph., "Ant. Jud.," x. ii, I 2.

8

1 14 BAB YL ON AND E G YPT.

last native king. The Medes and Persians destroyed
his kingdom, and made him prisoner ; after which, in
a httle time, he died. On his capture the Medo-
Persian rule was established, and continued thence-
forth uninterruptedly except for one or two revolts.
Here, again, {a) the name is an insuperable difficulty :
nothing can well be more unlike Belshazzar than Nabu-
nahid. But, further, (6) Nabu-nahid is distinctly said
to have been in no way related to Nebuchadnezzar.^
[c) Also his mother died in the ninth year of his
reign,^ eight years before his own capture and decease;
but it is the mother of Belshazzar probably who comes
into the banquet house at the time of his feast.^ (d)
Nabonidus, again, did not die on the night that his
kingdom passed to the Medes and Persians, as
Belshazzar did (ver. 30). On the contrary, he survived
eight months.'* Thus the hypothesis that Belshazzar
is Nabonidus, though embraced by many,^ is as unten-
able as the others ; and we have still to seek an answer
to the question, Who was the Belshazzar of Daniel ?

A discovery made by Sir. H. Rawlinson in the year
1854 gave the first clue to what we incline to regard
as the true answer. On cylinders placed by Nabo-

1 Abydenus, 1. s. c.

2 See the "Nabonidus Tablet," in the "Transactions of the Bib.
Arch. Soc," vol. vii., p. 158.

3 See " vSpeaker's Commentary" on Dan, v. 10; and compare Pusey's
<* Daniel," p. 449.

*This is proved by the " Nabonidus Tablet" (" Transactions, etc.,"
vol. vii., pp. 165-7).

&As Josephus, Heeren, Clinton, Winer, and others.

NO TICES IN DA NIEL . 115

nidus at the corners of the great temple of Ur, he
mentioned by name '* his eldest son, Bel-sar-uzur," and
prayed the moon-god to take him under his protection,
" that his glory might endure." On reading this the
learned decypherer at once declared it to be his opinion
that Bel-sar-uzur had been associated in the govern-
ment by his father, and possessed the kingly power.
If this were so, it could scarcely be disputed that he
was Daniel's Belshazzar. Sir. H. Rawlinson's inference
from the inscription has, however, been denied. Mr.
Fox Talbot has maintained that the inscription does
not furnish " the slightest evidence " that Bel-sar-uzur
was ever regarded as co-regent with his father. " He
may," he says, " have been a mere child when it was
written." ^ The controversy turns upon the question,
What was Oriental practice in this matter? Sir. H.
Rawlinson holds that Oriental monarchs generally,
and the Assyrian and Babylonian kings in particular,
were so jealous of possible rivals in their own family,
that they did not name even their sons upon public
documents unless they had associated them. Kudur-
mabuk mentions his son Rim-agu ; ^ but he has made
him King of Larsa. Sennacherib mentions Asshur-
nadin-sum,^ but on the occasion of his elevation to the
throne of Babylon. Apart from these instances, and
that of Bel-sar-uzur, there does not seem to be any
mention made of their sons by name by the monarchs
of either country.

*" Records of the Past," vol. v., p. 144.

2 Ibid., vol. iii., p. 20. ^Ibid., vol. i., p. 40.

Ii6 BAB YL ON AND EGYPT.

The supposition that Bel-sar-uzur may have been
** a mere child " when the inscription on which his
name occurs was set up, is completely negatived by
the newly-discovered tablet of Nabonidus, which
shows him to have had a son — and Bel-sar-uzur was
his "eldest son " — who held the command of his main
army from his seventh year, B.C. 549, to his eleventh,
B.C. 545.^ It is a reasonable supposition that the
prince mentioned upon this tablet was Bel-sar-uzur.
He is called emphatically " the king's son," and is
mentioned five times. While Cyrus is threatening
Babylon both on the north and on the south, Nabo-
nidus is shown to have remained sluggish and inert
within the walls of the capital, the true kingly power
being exercised by " the king's son," who is with the
army and the officers in Akkad, or northern Babylonia,
watching Cyrus and protecting Babylon. When the
advance of the army of Cyrus is finally made, what " the
king's son " did is not told us. Nabonidus must have
roused himself from his lethargy and joined his troops ;
but as soon as he found himself in danger, he fled.
Pursuit was made, and he was captured — possibly in
Borsippa, as Berosus related.^ The victorious Persians
took him with them into Babylon. If at this time
"the king's son " was still alive, any further resistance
that was made must, almost certainly, have been made
by him. Now such resistance was made. A body of
" rebels," as they are called, threw themselves into Bit-
Saggatu, or the fortified enclosure within which stood

^"Transactions," vol. vii., pp. 156-161. ^gg^-Qsi^is^ Yr. 14.

NO TICES IN DANIEL. 1 1 7

the Great Temple of Bel-Merodach and the Royal
Palace, and shutting to the gates, defied the enemy.
It is true our record says no preparations had been
made previously for the defence of the place, and
there was no store of weapons within it. But the
soldiers would have their own weapons : the temple
and the palace would probably be well supplied with
wine and provisions ; the defences would be strong ;
and the feeling of the defenders may well have been
such as Herodotus ascribes to the mass of the Baby-
lonians when they shut themselves within the walls of
the town.^ Bel-sar-uzur and his lords may have felt
so secure that they could indulge in feasting and
revelry. They may have maintained their position for
months. It is at any rate most remarkable that the
writer of the tablet, having launched his shaft of
contempt against the foolish " rebels," interposes a
break of more than four months between this and the
next paragraph- It was at the end of Tammuz that
the " rebels " closed the gates of Bit-Saggatu ; it was
not till the 3d day of Marchesvan that "Cyrus to
Babylon descended," and established peace there. It
may have been on the night of his arrival with strong
reinforcements that the final attack was made, and that
Belshazzar, having provoked God by a wanton act of
impiety, "was slain" (ver. 31). Nearly five months
later, on the 27th of Adar, " the king (Nabonidus) died."
It is objected to the view, that the Belshazzar of
Daniel is Bel-sar-uzur, the eldest son of Nabonidus : —
1 Herod., i. 190.

BAB YL ON AND EG YPT.

I. That Belshazzar is called repeatedly the son of
Nebuchadnezzar/ while we have no evidence that Bel-
sar-uzur was in any way related to that monarch. 2.
That " the Book of Daniel gives not the least hint of
Belshazzar as having a father still alive and on the
throne."^ The first of these objections has been often
answered.^ In Scripture, it has been observed, " father"
stands for any male ancestor, " son " for any male
descendant. Jehoshaphat is called " the son of Nimshi,"
though really his grandson ; Jesus of Nazareth is " the
son of David," who is " the son of Abraham " (Matt.
i. i) ; Ezra is " the son of Seraiah " (Ezra vii. i), the
" chief priest " of the captivity (2 Kings xxv. 1 8), who
died B.C. 586 (ver. 21), of whom Ezra therefore (b.c.
460-440) must have been really the grandson or
great-grandson. Conversely, Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob are the '' fathers " of the Israelites after they
have been four hundred years in Egypt (Exod. iii. 15,
16) ; Jonadab, the son of Rechab, the friend of Jehu
(2 Kings X. 15), is the "father" of the Rechabites,
contemporary with Jeremiah (Jer. xxxv. 6); and
Jehoram, king of Judah, is the father of Uzziah (Matt.
i. 8), his fourth descendant. The rationale of the
matter is as follows : Neither in Hebrew nor in Chaldee
is there any word for " grandfather " or " grandson."
To express the relationship it would be necessary to
say " father's father " and " son's son." But " father's

1 Fox Talbot, in " Records of the Past," vol. v., p. 144. 2 ibj^,
' See the author's " Bampton Lectures," Lecture V., pp. 134, 135,
and note.

NOTICES IN DANIEL. 119

father " and " son's son " are, by an idiom of the
language, used with an idea of remoteness — to express
distant ancestors or descendants. Consequently they
are rendered by this usage unapt to express the near
relationship of grandfather and grandson ; and the
result is that they are very rarely so used. As Dr.
Pusey has well observed,^ " A single grandfather, or
forefather, is never called * father's father,' always
'father' only." This is so alike in early and in late
Hebrew ; and the Chaldee follows the idiom. Jacob
says, ** The God of my father, the God of Abraham,
and the fear of Isaac " (Gen. xxxi. 42). God says to
Aaron, '* The tribe of Levi, the tribe of thy father "
(Num. xviii. 2). The confession to be made at the
offering of the first-fruits began, " a Syrian, ready to
perish, was my father " (Deut. xxvi. 5) ; and in the
same sense, probably, Moses says, " the God of my
father" (Exod. xviii. 4). David said to Mephibosheth,
" I will surely show thee kindness for Jonathan thy
father's sake, and will restore to thee all the land of
Saul thy father " (2 Sam. ix. 7). And Asa is said to
have " removed Maachah, his mother, from being
queen," though it is said in the same chapter that she
was the mother of Abijam, his father (i Kings xv. 2,
1 3). Maachah herself, who is called '' daughter of
Absalom" (i Kings xv. 2), was really his grand-
daughter, he having left only one daughter, Tamar (2
Sam. xiv. 27), and her own father being Uriel (2 Chron.
xiii. 2). Again it is said, " Asa did right in the eyes
^ See his " Lectures on Daniel," Lecture VII., pp. 405, 406.

I20 BAB YL ON AND EGYPT.

of the Lord, as did David his father " (i Kings xv. 1 1),
and in Hke way of Hezekiah (2 Kings xviii. 3). Con-
trariwise, it is said that " Ahaz did not right Hke David
his father " (xvi. 2) ; that " Amaziah did right, yet not
Hke David his father ; he did according to aU things as
Joash his father did " (xiv. 3). Here, in one verse, the
actual father and the remote grandfather are aHke
caUed "his father;" as before the father and grand-
father of Mephibosheth were caUed, in the same verse,
"his father." "Josiah," it is said, "walked in the ways
of David his father ; he began to seek the God of
David his father" (2 Chron. xxxiv. 2, 3). In Isaiah
there occur "Jacob thy father" (Isa. Iviii. 14); "thy
first father " (xliii. 27) — /. c, Adam ; and to Hezekiah
he said, " Thus saith the Lord, the God of David thy
father " (xxxviii. 5). So, on the other hand, there is
no Hebrew or Chaldee word to express " grandson."
In laws, if the relation has to be expressed, the idiom
is "thy son's daughter" (Lev. xviii. 10), or thy
" daughter's daughter " (Ibid.) ; or it is said, " Thou
shalt tell it to thy son's son " (Exod. x. 2) ; " Rule
thou over us, thou, and thy son, and thy son's son "
(Judg. viii. 22). The relation can be expressed in this
way in the abstract, but there is no way in Hebrew or
Chaldee to mark that one person was the grandson of
another, except in the way of genealogy — " Jehu, the
son of Jehoshaphat, the son of Nimshi." And so the
name " son " stands for the " grandson," and a person
is at times called the son of the more remarkable
grandfather, the link of the father's name being omitted.

NO TICKS IN DANIEL. 1 2 1

Thus Jacob asked for " Laban, the son of Nahor " (Gen.
xxix. 5), omitting the immediate father, Bethuel; Jehu
is called "the son of Nimshi " (i Kings xix. 16; 2
Kings ix. 20), omitting his own father, Jehoshaphat.
The prophet Zechariah is called " the son of Iddo "
(Ezra V. i ; vi. 14), his own father being Berachiah
(Zech. i. i). Hence the Rechabites said, as a matter
of course, " Jonadab, the son of Rechab, our father,
commanded us ; w^e have obeyed in all things the
voice of Jonadab, the son of Rechab, our father "
(Jer. XXXV. 6, 8) ; although Jonadab lived some one
hundred and eighty years before (2 Kings x. 1 5). And
reciprocally God says, " The words of Jonadab, the
son of Rechab, that he commanded his sons, are per-
formed " (ver. 14) ; and " Because ye have obeyed the
commandments of Jonadab your father, and kept all
his precepts" (ver. 16).

But, it is objected, all this may be true; yet it
proves nothing. Nabonidus zvas not in any ivay
related to Nebuchadnezzar — he was *' merely a Baby-
lonian nobleman."^ How, then, should his son be
even Nebuchadnezzar's grandson ? This, too, has
been answered,^ and it is curious that the answer
should be ignored. Belshazzar, it has been observed,
may have been the grandson of Nebuchadnezzar on
the mother s side. His father, Nabonidus, may have
married one of Nebuchadnezzar's daughters.

It must be granted that we have no proof that he

^ Fox Talbot, in "Records of the Past," vol. v., p. 144,

2 See the author's " Bampton Lectures," Lecture V., note 41.

BAB YL ON AND EG YPT.

did. We have, however, some indications from which
we should naturally have drawn the conclusion inde-
pendently of the Book of Daniel. Two pretenders to
the throne of Babylon started up during the reign of
Darius Hystaspis, both of whom called themselves
** Nebuchadnezzar, son of Nabonidus."^ It is certain
from this that Nabonidus must have had a son so
called, for no pretender would assume the name of a
person who never existed. How, then, are we to
account for Nabonidus having given this name to one
of his sons? Usurpers, as a rule, desire not to recall
the memory of the family which they have dispos-
sessed. The Sargonidae discarded all the names in
use among their predecessors. So did the Egyptian
monarchs of the eighteenth and nineteenth dynasties.
So, again, did those of the twenty-first, and the Psam-
metichi. Nabonidus must have intended to claim a
family connection with the preceding Babylonian
monarchs when he thus named a son. And if he was
indeed "no way related to Nebuchadnezzar," the
connection could only have been by marriage. The
probability, therefore, is that the principal wife of
Nabonidus, the queen (or queen-mother) of Dan. v.
lo, was a daughter of Nebuchadnezzar, and that
through her Belshazzar was Nebuchadnezzar's grand-
son.

But further: it is objected that "the Book of Daniel
gives not the slightest hint of Belshazzar having a

^See the "Behistun Inscription," in the author's "Herodotus," vol.
ii., pp. 596, 606.

NO TICES IN DANIEL. 1 23

father alive, and still upon the throne."^ In reply it
may be said, in the first place, that, were it so, no
surprise need be felt ; since, if the circumstances were
as above supposed, if Nabonidus after a shameful
flight was a prisoner in the hands of the enemy, and
Belshazzar was conducting the defence alone, any
distinct allusion to the captured king would be
improbable. But, secondly, it is not true that there is
"no hint." Belshazzar makes proclamation that, if
any one can read and interpret the writing miracu-
lously inscribed upon the wall, " he shall be clothed
with scarlet, and have a chain of gold about his neck,
and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom" (v. 7);
and when Daniel has read and interpreted the words,
the acts promised are performed — "they clothed
Daniel with scarlet, and put a chain of gold about his
neck, and made a proclamation concerning him, that
he should be tJie third rider in the kingdom " (ver. 29).
It has been suggested that to be the "third ruler" was
to be one of the three presidents who were subse-
quently set over the satraps (vi. 2) ; but neither is this
the plain force of the words, nor was the organization
of chap. vi. I, 2 as yet existing. To be "the third
ruler in the kingdom " is to hold a position one
degree lower than that of " second from the king,"
which was conferred upon Joseph (Gen. xli. 40-44),
and upon Mordecai (Esth. x. 3) ; it is to hold a posi-
tion in the kingdom inferior to two persons, and to
two persons only. That the proclamation ran in this
1 Fox Talbot, in " Records of the Past," I. s c.

1 24 BAB YL ON AND EGYPT.

form is a " hint," and more than a hint, that the first
and second places were occupied, that there were two
kings upon the throne, and that therefore the highest
position that could, under the circumstances, be
granted to a subject was the third place, the place
next to the two sovereigns. If we compare the two
nearly parallel cases of Joseph and Mordecai — subjects
whom their despotic master " delighted to honour " —
with that of Daniel at this time, we shall find it
scarcely possible to assign any other reason for his
being promoted to the third place in the kingdom than
the fact that the first and second places were already
occupied by the son and father, Belshazzar and
Nabonidus.

CHAPTER X.

FURTHER NOTICES OF BABYLON IN DANIEL.

"Darius the Median took the kingdom, being about threescore and
two years old. It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom an hundred
and twenty princes, which should be over the whole kingdom." —
Dan. v. 31 ; vi. i.

The reign of '* Darius the Median" over Babylon is
the second great historical difficulty which the Book
of Daniel presents to the modern inquirer. Accord-
ing to Herodotus,^ Berosus,^ and the Canon of Ptolemy,
the immediate successor of Nabonidus (Labynetus)
was Cyrus — no king intervened between them. The
Babylonian records are in accord. Two contemporary
documents*'^ declare that Cyrus defeated Nabonidus,
captured him, and took the direction of affairs into
his own hands. One of them contains a proclamation,
issued by Cyrus, as it would seem, immediately after
his conquest,^ in which he assumes the recognised
titles of Babylonian sovereignty, calling himself " the

1 Herod., i. 188, 191. 2i3ei.osus, Fr. 14.

^See the "Cylinder Inscription of Cjtus," published in the "Journal
of the Royal Asiatic Society," vol. xii., pp. 85-9; and "Transactions
of Bibl. Archoeol. Society," vol. vii., pp. 153-169.

*"As. Soc. Journ.," vol. xii., p. 87.

125

1 26 BAB YL ON AND E G YPT.

great king, the powerful king, the king of Babylon,
the king of Sumir and Akkad, the king of the four
regions." Who, then, it has to be asked, is this
"Darius the Median," who "took the kingdom," and
made arrangements for its government, immediately
after the fall of the native Babylonian power, and its
suppression by that of the Medes and Persians ?

All that Scripture tells us of " Darius the Median,"
besides the points already mentioned, is that he was
the son of Ahasuerus, that he was an actual Mede by
descent ("of the seed of the Medes," Dan. ix. i), that
he advanced Daniel to a high dignity (ch. vi. 2), and
that afterwards he cast Daniel into the den of lions
and released him. The first and second of these facts
seem conclusive against a theory which has been of
late years strongly advocated — viz., that he is really
"Darius the son of Hystaspis,"^ the great Darius, the
only Darius mentioned in Scripture, except Codo-
mannus, whose name occurs in one place (Neh. xii. 22).
We know not only the father, but the entire descent
of Darius Hystaspis, up to Achaemenes, the founder
of the Persian royal family;^ and we find no "Ahasue-
rus" — the Hebrew form of the Persian KhsJiayarsha,
the Greek Xerxes — in the list. There is the strongest
evidence that he was of pure Persian race, and not an
atom of evidence that he had any Median blood in his
veins. It is among his proudest boasts that he is " an

^Particularly by Mr. Bosanquet (" Transactions," etc., vol. vi., pp. 84,
100, 130).
2 See the Author's " Herodotus," vol. iv., pp. 254-5.

NO TICES IN DANIEL. 127

Aryan, of Aryan descent, a Persian, the son of a
Persian."^ He was a member of the Persian royal
family, closely akin to Cyrus. The Medes revolted
against him, and fought desperately to throw off his
authority and place themselves under a real Mede,
Frawartish, who claimed to be "of the race of
Cyaxares."^ Cyrus might with better reason be
called a Mede than Darius, for some high author-
ities gave Cyrus a Median mother;^ but there is
no such tradition with respect to Darius, the son of
Hystaspis.

Another extraordinary theory, recently broached,
identifies " Darius the Mede " with Cyrus.* Darius,
it is said, may be in Daniel, not a name, but a title.
Etymologically the name would mean " holder," or
" firm holder," and it may therefore have been a syno-
nym for king or ruler. Daryavesh Madaya (in Dan.
v. 31) may mean, not "Darius the Mede," but only
"the king or ruler of the Medes, a fit title for Cyrus"!

But how does this conjectural explanation suit the
other passages of Daniel where the name of Darius
occurs ? We read in ch. vi. 28, " So this Daniel pros-
pered in the reign of Darius, a7id in the reign of Cyrus,
the Persian!' Does this mean, he prospered "in the
reign of Cyrus, and in the reign of Cyrus " ? Again, we
read, in ch. ix. I, of " Darius, the son of Ahasuerus."
How can this apply to Cyrus, who was the son of

^ See the Author's " Herodotus," vol. iv., p. 250.
2 Ibid,, vol. ii., pp. 598-602.
3 Herod., i. 108; Xen. " Cyrop.," i. 2, g i.
*" Transactions," etc., vol. vi., p. 29.

1 28 BAB YL ON AND EGYPT.

Cambyses ? Further, how are we to understand the
expression " King Darius," which occurs in ch. vi. 6,
9, 25? Does it mean ** king, king " ? We will not
insult our readers' intellects by continuing. We will
only add one less obvious argument, an argument
which may further our quest, and give us perhaps
some help in determining, not only who " Darius the
Median " was not, but who he was.

It is said, in ch. v. 31, that *' Darius the Median
took the kingdom," and in ch. ix. i, that he " zvas made
king over the realm of the Chaldeans." Neither of these
two expressions is suitable to Cyrus. The word trans-
lated "took" means '* received," " took from the hands
of another ; " and the other passage is yet more unmis-
takable. "Was made king" exactly expresses the
original, which uses the Hophal of the verb, the
Hiphel of which occurs when David makes Solomon
king over Israel (i Chron. xxix. 20). No one v/ould
say of Alexander the Great, when he conquered
Darius Codomannus, that he " was made king over
Persia." The expression implies the reception of a
kingly position by one man from the hands of another.
Now Babylon, while under the Assyrians, had been
almost always governed by viceroys, who received
their crown from the Assyrian monarchs.^ It was not
unnatural that Cyrus should follow the same system.
He had necessarily to appoint a governor, and the
" Nabonidus Tablet " tells us that he did so almost
immediately after taking possession of the city. The

^ "Ancient Monarchies," vol. iii., p. 42.

NOTICES IN DANIEL. 129

first governor appointed was a certain Gobryas/ whose
nationality is doubtful ; but he appears to have been
shortly afterwards sent to some other locality.^ A
different arrangement must have been then made.
That Cyrus should have appointed a Mede, and
allowed him to take the title of " king," is in no way
improbable. He was fond of appointing Medes to
high office, as we learn from Herodotus.^ He was
earnestly desirous of conciliating the Babylonians, as
we find from his cylinder.* It was not many years
before he gave his son, Cambyses, the full royal power
at Babylon, relinquishing it himself, as appears from a
dated tablet.^ The position of " Darius the Median "
in Daniel is compatible with all that we know with
any certainty from other sources. We have only to
suppose that Cyrus, in the interval between the brief
governorship of Gobryas and the sovereignty of
Cambyses, placed Babylon under a Median noble
named Darius, and allowed him a position interme-
diate between that of a mere ordinary " governor "
and the full royal authority.

The position of Darius the Median, as a subject-
king set up by Cyrus, has been widely accepted ; but
critics have not been content to rest at this point.
Attempts have been made to identify him further with

^ So at least I understand the passage ("Transactions," etc., vol. vii.,
p. 166, 1. 20).

2 Ibid., p. 167, 1. 22. The reading is uncertain.
'Herod., i. 156, 162.

*" Journal of Royal Asiatic Society," vol. xii., pp. 87-9.
^"Transactions," etc., vol. vi., p. 489.
9

I30 BAB YL ON AND E G YPT.

some person celebrated in history; and it has been
suggested that he was either Astyages, the last Median
monarch/ or his supposed son, Cyaxares.^ Neither
identification can be substantiated. The very exist-
ence of a second Cyaxares, the son of Astyages, is
more than questionable.^ The names are, in both
cases, unsuitable. The age of Darius when he ''took
the kingdom" falls short of the probable age of
Astyages. It seems best to acquiesce in the view of
those who hold that " Darius the Mede is an historic
character," but one " whose name has not yet been
found except in Scripture."^

It is in no way surprising that, on being set over
the realm of the Chaldees, Darius should have occu-
pied himself in giving it a new organization. We are
scarcely entitled to assume, from the expression used
in Dan. vi. i, that he called his new officers "satraps;"
but still it is quite possible that he used the word,
which had not yet received a technical sense, and only
meant etymologically " supporters of the crown."
The number, one hundred and twenty, is more than
we should have expected, and can receive no support
from the hundred and twenty-seven provinces of
Ahasuerus (Esth. i. i), who ruled from Ethiopia to
India, whereas Darius reigned only over the realm of

^ So Syncellus, Jackson, Marsham, and Winer,
. "^ So Josephus, Prideaux, Hales, Hengstenberg, Von Lengerke, and
others.

3 Herodotus declares that Astyages had no male offspring (i., 109).

* "Speaker's Commentary" on Dan. v. 31.

NOTICES IN DANIEL. 131

the Chaldees ; we must view it either as resulting from
Oriental ostentation, or as an anticipation of the maxim,
Divide et impera. Each "satrap" must have ruled
over a comparatively small district. They may have
been the head men of tribes, and if so, it is pertinent
to remark that the tribes of the Euphrates valley were
exceedingly numerous. Twenty-four tribes of Lower
Babylonia collected on one occasion to assist Susub;^
in the middle region Tiglath-Pileser II. claims to have
reduced thirty- four tribes;^ the upper region had at
least as many. An ancient geographical list seems to
divide Babylonia proper into seventy-three districts.^
If Cyrus intrusted to Darius the Euphrates valley up
to Carchemish, and the regions of Coelesyria and
Phoenicia, we can quite understand the number of the
"princes" {i.e., satraps) being a hundred and twenty.

" Now, O king, establish the decree, and sign the writing, that it be
not changed, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which
altereth not." — Dan. vi. 8.

"Know, O king, that the law of the Medes and Persians is, That
no decree nor statute which the king establisheth may be changed."
— Ver. 15.

The inviolability of Medo-Persian law, and the moral
impossibility that the king, having signed a decree, or
in any way pledged his word to a matter, could after-
wards retract, or alter it, which are so strongly asserted
in these passages, and again so markedly implied in
the Book of Esther, receive illustration from two

^ " Records of the Past," vol. i., p. 47.

2 Ibid., vol. v., p. loi. **Ibid., vol. v., pp. 105-7.

132

BAB FLOAT AND EG YPT.

narratives which have come down to us on the
authority of Herodotus. " Cambyses," he tells us/
" the son of Cyrus, was anxious to marry one of his
sisters ; but, as he knew that it was an uncommon
thing, and not the custom of the Persians previously,
he summoned a meeting of the royal judges, and put
the question to them, whether there was any law
which allowed a brother, if he wished it, to marry his
sister? Now the royal judges," he remarks, "are
certain picked men among the Persians, who hold their
office for life, or until they are found guilty of some
misconduct. By them justice is administered in Persia,
and they are the interpreters of the old laws, all dis-
puted cases of law being referred to their decision.
When Cambyses, therefore, put his question to these
judges, they gave him an answer which was at once
true and safe — ' the}^ did not find any law,' they said,
' allowing a brother to take his sister to wife ; but they
found a law that the king of the Persians might do
whatever he pleased.' And so they neither warped
the law through fear of Cambyses, nor ruined them-
selves by over-stiffly maintaining the law; but they
brought another quite distinct law to the king's help,
which allowed him to have his wish. Cambyses,
therefore, married the object of his love ; and no long
time afterwards he took to wife also another sister."
Still more closely illustrative of the perplexity of
Darius, and his inability to escape from the entangle-
ment in which he found himself, is the following
1 Ilerod. hi., 31.

NOTICES IN DANIEL.

133

anecdote concerning Xerxes, one of the most self-
willed and despotic of all the Persian monarchs :
"Amestris, the wife of Xerxes, having a cause of
quarrel, as she thought, against the wife of a Persian
prince named Masistes, determined to compass her
death. She waited, therefore, till her husband gave
the great royal banquet — a feast which took place
once every year — in celebration of the king's birthday,
and then made request of Xerxes that he would please
to give her, as her present, the wife of Masistes. But
he at first refused ; for it seemed to him shocking and
monstrous to give into the power of another a woman
who was not only his brother's wife, but was likewise
wholly guiltless in the matter which had enraged
Amestris ; and he was the more unwilling inasmuch
as he well knew the intention with which his wife had
preferred her request. After a time, however, he was
wearied by her importunity, and, /*^£'/z;;^ constrained by
the lazu of the feast, which required that no one who
asked a boon that day at the king's board should be
denied his request, he yielded, but with a very ill will,
and gave the woman into her power." ^ Amestris, as
he had expected, caused the woman to be put to
death, first mutilating her in a most barbarous manner.
It is indicative of the complete knowledge that the
writer has of the change which Babylon underwent
when she passed from the uncontrolled despotism of
the old native kings to the comparatively limited
monarchy of Persia that he exhibits to us Nebuchad-

* Herod., ix. no, in.

134 BAB YL ON AND E G YPT.

nezzar and Belshazzar as wholly unrestrained by those
about them, or admitting, at the most, domestic
counsels, while he represents Darius as trammelled by
Medo-Persian law, a passive, instrument in the hands
of his councillors, forced to do an act against which
his soul revolted, and only venturing upon a vindica-
tion of his own authority when he had been the witness
of a stupendous miracle (ch. vi. 14-24).

" The king spake and said unto Daniel, O Daniel, servant of the
living God, is thy God, whom thou servest continually, able to deliver
thee from the lions?" — Dan. vi. 20.

"Then King Darius wrote unto all people, nations, and languages,
that dwell in all the earth : Peace be multiplied unto you, I make a
decree, That in every dominion of my kingdom men tremble and fear
before the God of Daniel : for He is the living God, and steadfast for
ever, and His kingdom that which shall not be destroyed, and His
dominion shall be even unto the end. He delivereth and rescueth, and
He worketh signs and wonders in heaven and earth, who hath deliv-
ered Daniel from the power of the lions;" — Dan. vi. 25-27.

As the Medo-Persic kings introduced some novelty
into the political situation when they became the rulers
of Babylon, so they further introduced a more consid-
erable religious change. The ordinary Babylonian
system is sufficiently indicated in the account of
Belshazzar's feast. It was grossly polytheistic and
idolatrous. It recognised a hierarchy of gods as
ruling in the heavenly sphere,^ and it worshipped them
under the form of images ^ in gold, and silver, and
brass, and iron, and wood, and stone (ch. vi. 4, 23).

^ "Ancient Monarchies," vol. i., pp. 110-I42; vol. iii., pp. 25-33.
2 Ibid., vol. iii., p. 28.

NOTICES IN DANIEL.

135

The religion of the Medo-Persians was very different.
It admitted of no use of images.^ It did not abso-
lutely reject the employment of the word god in
the plural ; ^ but it acknowledged one god as infinitely
superior to all others, and viewed him as alone truly
" living," as alone the fount and origin of all life,
whether earthly or spiritual. The Ahura-Mazda of the
Medes and Persians was a god of a very spiritual and
exalted character. He had made the celestial bodies,
earth, water, and trees, all good creatures, and all good,
true things. He was good, holy, pure, true, the holy
god, the holiest, the essence of truth, the father of all
truth, the best being of all, the master of purity. He
was supremely happy, possessing every blessing —
health, wealth, virtue, wisdom, immortality.^

These facts, which are known to us especially
through the Zendavesta, the sacred book of the ancient
Medes and Persians, throw considerable light on the
picture drawn of the religion of the Babylonian court
under Darius the Mede, compared with that of the
same court almost immediately before, under Belshaz-
zar. Belshazzar allowed that " the spirit of the holy
gods'' might be in Daniel, and that therefore his words
might be deserving of attention. He praised "the
gods," and recognised the duty of worshipping them
as embodied in their images of wood and stone and
metal. In the account given of Darius the Mede,

1 Herod., i. 131.

2 See Pusey's "Lectures on Daniel," pp. 529-539.

2 "Ancient Monarchies," vol. ii., pp. 324-5.

136 BAB YL ON AND EGYPT.

idolatry has, on the other hand, no place. Polytheism
of a kind just makes its appearance in the expression,
" Whosoever shall ask a petition oi any god'' (ch. vi. 7,
12); but monotheism is predominant. Darius, before
knowing if a miracle has been performed or no, recog-
nises Daniel as a " servant oi the living God'' (ver. 20);
and afterwards, when assured of Daniel's deliverance,
praises and exalts *' the living God " as one " who is
steadfast for ever and ever," whose " kingdom shall
not be destroyed," but shall continue " even unto the
end ; " '* who delivereth and rescueth," and " worketh
signs and wonders in heaven and earth" (vers. 26, 27).
These words, which would seem strange in the mouth
of most heathens, are natural enough in those of a
Zoroastrian, who, while allowing a certain qualified
worship of the sun, and of the gods presiding over
his own family,^ would recognise as infinitely above
these, placed in a category apart and by himself, the
great giver of life, Ahura-Mazda, the true " living
God," the Creator, the Preserver, the Deliverer from
evil, the Supreme Spirit, to whom all others were
subordinate, the one and only ruler of heaven and
earth.

It does not interfere with this view that Cyrus, and
as his vice-gerent, Darius, tolerated — nay, even patron-
ized to some extent — the Babylonian religion.^ This
they did as politic rulers over subjects likely to be

^ " Behist. Inscript.," col. iv., par. 12, 13; Pusey's " Daniel," p. 531,
note 8.

^ "Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society," vol. xii., pp. 88-9.

NOTICES IN DANIEL. 137

disaffected. But in their courts, among their privy-
councillors, they would act differently. There they
would show their true feelings. Even in a proclama-
tion addressed to all their subjects, as that of Darius
was (ver. 25), they would not scruple to show their
own feelings — as Darius Hystaspis and his successors
did in all their rock-inscriptions — so long as they
abstained from any direct disparagement of their
subjects' gods, and merely required the acknowledg-
ment of an additional deity besides those of the
popular Pantheons.

CHAPTER XL

NOTICES OF BABYLON IN DANIEL, ISAIAH, JERE-
MIAH, AND EZEKIEL.

It is proposed in the present chapter to bring together
the scattered notices in Scripture bearing upon the
general condition of Babylon, the character of its
government, and the manners and customs of its
people ; and to inquire how far profane history con-
firms or illustrates what Scripture tells us on these
matters. A certain number of the points have necessa-
rily been touched in some of the earlier chapters of the
present volume, and thus it will be impossible to avoid
a certain amount of repetition ; but the endeavour
will be made to pass lightly over such topics as have
been already put before the reader, and thus to reduce
the repetition to a minimum.

We have noticed indirectly, in connection with its
commerce, the great wealth of Babylon. Isaiah calls
it emphatically '* the golden city " (Isa. xiv. 4), or " the
exactress of gold," as the passage may be rendered
literally. Jeremiah compares Babylon to "a golden
cup in the hand of the Lord " (Jer. li. 7), and calls her
" abundant in treasures " (ib. ver. 13), declaring more-

NO TICES IN DA NIEL, ISA I AH, ETC. 139

over that, at her fall, all those who partook of her
spoil should be "satisfied" (ib. 1. 10). In Daniel the
Babylonian kingdom is typified by the "head of gold"
(Dan. ii. 38), and the opulence of the monarch is
shown by the enormous size of the image, or rather
pillar, of gold which he set up, a pillar ninety feet
high by nine feet wide (ib. iii. i). The inscriptions are
in accordance. Nebuchadnezzar tells us that he
brought into the treasury of Merodach at Babylon
*' wares, and ornaments for the women, silver, molten
gold, precious stones, metal, itmritgana and cedar
wood, a splendid abundance, riches and sources of
joy."^ The temple of Merodach he "made conspicu-
ous with fine linen, and covered its seats with splendid
gold, with lapis lazuli, and blocks of alabaster."^ Its
portico "with brilliant gold he caused men to cover;
the lower threshold, the cedar awnings with gold and
precious stones he embellished."^ And the rest of
his sacred buildings were adorned similarly.*

The primary source of the wealth of Babylon was
its agriculture. Herodotus tells us that the yield of
grain was commonly two hundred-fold, and in some
instances three hundred-fold.^ Pliny asserts that the
wheat-crop was reaped twice, and afterwards afforded
good keep for beasts.^ When Babylonia became a
province of the Persian Empire, it paid a tribute of a
thousand talents of silver," and at the same time

1" Records of the Past," vol. v., pp. 116-7. 2j]-,i(]^ p uy^

3 Ibid., pp. 119-20. *Ibid., vol. vii., pp. 72, 75-6.

^ Herod., i. 193. ^Plin. H.N., xviii. 17. ''Herod., iii. 92.

I40 BAB YL ON AND E G YPT.

furnished the entire provision of the court during one-
third of the year.^ Notwithstanding these calls upon
them, its satraps became enormously wealthy.^ To
the wealth obtained by agriculture is to be added that
derived from commerce, and from conquest. Both of
these points have already engaged our attention, and
we have seen reason to believe that the gains made
were in each case very great. Scripture makes allu-
sion to the agricultural wealth of the country, when it
enumerates among the chief calamities of the final
invasion the " cutting off of the sower, and of him
that handled the sickle in the time of harvest" (Jer. 1.
16); and again when it makes special mention of the
"opening of the granaries" as a feature in the sack of
the city (ib. ver. 26). The commercial wealth is
implied in the description of Babylon as " a city of
merchants" (Ezek. xvii. 4), and of Babylonia as **a
land of trafifick" (ib.). The wealth derived from con-
quest receives notice in the statement of Habakkuk,
"Because thou hast spoiled many nations, all the
remnant of the people shall spoil thee" (Hab. ii. 8),
and is illustrated by the narrative of Kings (2 Kings
XXV. 13-17). Nebuchadnezzar alludes to it when he
says, "A palace for my royalty in the midst of the
city of Babylon I built . . . tall cedars for its porticoes
I fitted . . . with silver, gold, and precious stones I
overlaid its gates . . . / valiantly collected' spoils ; as
an adornment of the house were they arranged and
collected within it ; trophies, abundance, royal treas-
1 Herod., i. 192. 2 1\;^^^

NOTICES [N DANIEL, ISAIAH, ETC. 141

ures, I accumulated and gathered together;"^ and
again, ''Gatherings from great Imtds I made ; and, like
the hills, I upraised its head."^

Among the spoil which was regarded as of especial
value were scented woods, more particularly cedars,
and perhaps pines, from Lebanon and Amanus. Isaiah,
in describing the general rejoicing at the fall of the
Babylonian Empire, remarks, "The whole earth is at
rest and is quiet; they break forth into singing: yea,
the fir-trees rejoice at thee, and the cedars of Lebanon,
saying. Since thou art laid down, no feller is come up
against us" (Isa. xiv. 7, 8). The cuneiform inscrip-
tions show that the practice of cutting timber in the
Syrian mountains and conveying it to Mesopotamia,
which had been begun by the Assyrian monarchs (2
Kings xix. 23), was continued by the Babylonians.
Nebuchadnezzar expressly states that " the best of his
pine-trees front Lebanon, with tall babil-wood, he
brought;"^ and Nabonidus tells us that, in his third
year, he went to "Amananu, a mountainous country,
where tall pines grew, and brought a part of them to
the midst of Babylon."^

The great size of Babylon, and the immense height
and thickness of its walls, have been dwelt upon at
some length in a former chapter.^ Jeremiah is par-
ticularly clear upon these points, though, naturally, he

1 "Records of the Past," vol. v., p. 131,

2 Ibid., p. 133. 3 Ibid., vol. v., p. 119.
*" Transactions of the Bibl. Archseolog. Society," vol. vii., p. 154.
^See above, ch. vi.

142 BAB YL ON AND EG YPT.

enters into no details. "Though Babylon should
mount lip to heaven,'' he says, ''and though she should
fortify the height of her strength, yet from me shall
spoilers come unto her, saith the Lord" (Jer. li. 53);
and again, "The broad walls of Babylon shall be
utterly broken, and her high gates shall be burned
with fire" (ib. ver. 58); and, with respect to the size
of the city, " One post shall run to meet another, and
one messenger to meet another, to show the king of
Babylon that his city is taken at one end" (ib. ver. 31).
The government of Babylon by a despotic monarch,
the sole source of all power and authority, and the
absolute master of the lives and liberties of his sub-
jects, which the Babylonian notices in Scripture set
before us consistently, and which appears most mark-
edly in Daniel (ch. ii. 12, 48, 49; iii. 6, 15, 29), is in
complete accordance with all that profane history
teaches on the subject. Nebuchadnezzar claims in
his inscriptions to rule by Divine right. The sceptre
of righteousness is delivered into his hand that there-
with he may sustain men.^ From him alone com-
mands issue ; by him alone all works are accomplished.
No subject obtains any mention as even helping him.
The inscriptions of Neriglissar and Nabonidus are of
nearly the same character. And the classical accounts
agree. It is clear that in Semitic Babylon, prior to
the Medo- Persic conquest, there was no noble class
possessing independent power, or any right of con-
trolling the king.

1 " Records of the Tast," vol. v., p. 114.

NOTICES IN DANIEL, ISAIAH, ETC. 143

There was, however, a learned class, which pos-
sessed a certain distinction, which furnished priests to
the chief temples, and claimed to interpret dreams and
omens, and to foretell the future by means of astrology.
Herodotus ^ and Diodorus ^ give this class the name
of " Chaldseans," a nomenclature with which the Book
of Daniel may be said to agree, if we accept the
identification of " Chaldaeans " v/ith Casdim. At any
rate, the book testifies to the existence of the class,
and to the functions which belonged to it, as also
does Isaiah, when he says of Babylon, " Let now the
astrologers, the star-gazers, the monthly prognosti-
cators, stand up and save thee from these things which
shall come upon thee " (Isa. xlvii. 13). The title Rab-
Mag, which may be suspected to have belonged to
the chief of the Chaldaean order, is found both in
Scripture (Jer. xxxix. 3, 13) and in the inscriptions.
It has been translated "chief of the Magi;"^ but there
seems to be no reason to believe that Magianism was
in any way recognised by the Babylonians of the
independent empire.

There was also in Babylonia a numerous class of
officials — a " bureaucracy," as it has been called —
whereby the government of the country was actually
carried on. In some places, the native sovereigns
were indeed allowed to retain their authority for a
time (2 Kings xxiv. i, 17), and the Babylonian monarch
could thus be called with propriety a ''king of kings"

1 Herod., i. 181, 183. 2 Diod. Sic, ii. 29.

^ Speaker's Commentary on Jeremiah, xxxix. 3.

144 ^^B ^L ^^ ^^^ ^^ ^Pl^'

(Dan. ii. 37 ; Ezek. xxvi. 7) ; but the general system
was to replace kings by " governors " (2 Kings xxv.
22, 23 ; Berosus, Fr. 14) or "princes " (Dan. ii. 2), and
to employ under these last a great variety of subor-
dinates. The Babylonian contract tablets show at
least eight or ten names of officers under government,
of different ranks and gradations/ correspondent (in a
general way) to the " princes, governors, captains,
judges, treasurers, counsellors, sheriffs, and rulers of
provinces " of the Book of Daniel, and thus indicate
sufficiently the bureaucratic character of the govern-
ment.

The general character of the Babylonian court as
depicted in Daniel, and its agreement with what we
know from other sources, has been already noticed.
But the following illustrations may be added to those
already given. The high position of the queen-
mother at the court of Belshazzar receives illustration
from the mention of " the mother of the king " in the
tablet of Nabonidus, and from the fact that at her
death there was a court mourning of three days'
duration.^ The polygamy of the monarchs (Dan. v.
2, 3) accords with what we hear of the " concubines "
of Saul-Mugina.^ The employment of eunuchs (2
Kings XX. 10; Dan. i. 3) agrees with Herod, iii. 92;
that of music (Isa. xiv. 1 1 ; Dan. iii. 5, 7) with passages

* "Records of the Past," vol. ix., pp. 91-108; vol. xi., pp. 91-8.
' " Transactions of the Bibl. Archaeolog. Society," vol. vii., pp.
158-9.
•''" Records of the Past," vol. i., p. 77.

NOTICES IN DANIEL, ISAIAH, ETC. 145

in the Assyrian inscriptions, which speak of musicians
and musical instruments as in vogue at the courts of
other neighbouring kings ;^ that of "sweet odours" in
the way of religious service (Dan. ii. 46) with v/hat
Herodotus relates of the burning of frankincense on
sacrificial occasions.^ The long detention in prison
of offenders against the dignity of the crown, of which
Isaiah speaks, when he says of the Babylonian
monarch that he " opened not the door of his prisoners "
(Isa. xiv. 17), and which is exemplified by the confine-
ment of Jehoiachin by Nebuchadnezzar for the extra-
ordinary term of thirty-seven years (2 Kings xxv. 27),
receives illustration from the story of Parsondas, as
told by Nicolas of Damascus. Parsondas was a Mede,
who desired to become king of Babylon under Artseus,
and obtained from him the promise of the kingdom.
Nannarus, the actual monarch, hearing of it, got Par-
sondas into his power, and kept him a prisoner at his
court for seven years, even then releasing him, not of
his own free-will, but on the application of Artaeus,
and under the apprehension that, if he refused, Artaeus
would make war upon him, and deprive him of his
sovereignty.^

One of the most surprising points in the represen-
tation of Babylonian customs which the Scriptural
account of the people brings before us is the severity
and abnormal character of the punishments which were
in use among them. To burn men to death in a

*" Records of the Past," vol. ix., pp. 54, 55.

2 Herod., i. 183. ^ Nic. Darn., Fr. Ii.

146 BAB YL ON AND EG YPT.

furnace of fire, as Nebuchadnezzar proposed to do
with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego (Dan. iii. 15-
23), is so extraordinary a proceeding as to seem, at
first sight, well-nigh incredible. To have men '' cut to
pieces," which was the threat held out by the same
monarch on two occasions (Dan. ii. 5 ; iii. 29), is
almost as remarkable a mode of executing them. It
might mitigate, perhaps, the feeling of incredulity
with which the ordinary European hears of such
terrible punishments to call attention to the punitive
systems of other Oriental kingdoms. Take, for
instance, the practice of the Persians : —

"We may notice as a blot upon the Persian system and character"
(I have elsewhere observed) " the cruelty and barbarity which was
exhibited in the regular and legal punishments which were assigned to
crimes and offences. The criminal code was exceedingly severe. The
modes of execution were also, for the most part, unnecessarily cruel.
Prisoners were punished by having their heads placed upon a broad
stone, and then having their faces crushed, and their brains beaten out,
by repeated blows with another stone. Ravlshers and rebels were put
to death by cnicifixion. The horrible punishment of ' the boat ' seems
to have been no individual tyrant's conception, but a recognised and
legal form of execution. The same may be said also of burying alive.
And the Pereian secondary punishments were also, for the most part,
exceedingly barbarous." ^

But, besides this, there is direct evidence that the
actual punishments mentioned as in use among the
Babylonians of Nebuchadnezzar's time were known to
the Mesopotamians of the period, and were upon
occasions applied to criminals. Asshur-bani-pal, the

^ *' Ancient Monarchies," vol. iii., pp. 246-7.

NOTICES IN DANIEL, ISAIAH, ETC. 147

son of Esar-haddon, declares, with respect to Saul-
Mugina, his own brother, whom he had made king of
Babylon, but who had revolted against him — " Saul-
Mugina, my rebellious brother, who made war with
me, hi the fierce, burning fire they threzv him, and
destroyed his life." ^ Of another rebel, Dunanu,
chief of the Gambalu, he also states — " Dunanu in
Nineveh, over afiir^iace they placed him, and consumed
him entirely!' ^ Nay, so natural does he consider it
that rebels should, when taken, suffer death in this
way, that, when he has to notice the escape of a certain
number of Saul-Mugina's adherents, who had betaken
themselves to flight, he expresses himself thus — " The
people, whom Saul-Mugina, my rebellious brother, had
caused to join him, and who, for their evil deeds,
deserved death . . . they did not burn in the fire with
Saul-Mugina their lord " ^ — implying that, if they had
been caught, this would have been the mode of their
execution. Again, of other rebels, kept apparently
in some stone-quarries from the time of Sennacherib,
his grandfather, Asshur-bani-pal tells us, " I threw
those men again into that pit ; / cut off their limbs^
and caused them to be eaten by dogs, bears, eagles,
vultures, birds of heaven, and fishes of the deep." ^

The liberty and publicity allowed to women in
Babylonia, so contrary to usual Oriental custom, which
appears in the Book of Daniel (ch. v. 2, 3, 10), is
illustrated by the traditions concerning Semiramis and

1 " Records of the Past," vol. i., p. 77. 2 ib}(j^ vol. ix., p. 56.

3 Ibid., vol. i., 1. s. c. * Ibid., p. 78.

148 BAB YL ON AND E G YPT.

Nitocris, and also by the account, which Herodotus
gives, of certain Babylonian customs of a very unusual
character. " Once a year," Herodotus tells us, " the
marriageable maidens of every village in the country
were required to assemble together into one place,
while all the men stood round them in a circle. Then
a herald (cf. Dan. iii. 4) called up the damsels one by
one and offered them for sale . . . All who liked
might come even from distant villages and bid for the
women." ^ Again he says, " The Babylonians have
one most shameful custom. Every woman born in
the country must, once in her life, go and sit down in
the precinct of Venus and there consort with a stranger.
Many of the wealthier sort, who are too proud to mix
with the others, drive in covered carriages to the
precinct, followed by a goodly train of attendants, and
there take their station. Where they sit there is
always a great crowd, some coming and others going.
Lines of cord mark out paths in all directions ; and
the strangers pass along them to make their choice.
. . . Some women have remained three or four years
in the precinct."^ The statements of Herodotus on
these points are confirmed by other writers, and there
is ample reason to believe that the seclusion of the sex,
so general in other parts of the East, was abhorrent
to Babylonian ideas.^

The free use of wine in Babylonia, not only at royal
banquets (Dan. v. 1-4), but in the ordinary diet of the

* Herod., i., 196. ^jbid., i. 199.

'See the author's "Ancient Monarchies," vol, iii., p. 22.

NOTICES IN DANIEL, ISAIAH, ETC. 149

upper classes (ib. i. 5-16), is what we should scarcely
have expected in so hot a region, and one wholly
unsuited for the cultivation of the vine. Yet it is
quite certain from profane sources that the fact was as
represented in Scripture. Herodotus tells us of a
regular trade between Armenia and Babylon down the
course of the Euphrates, in which the boats used
were sometimes of as much as five thousand talents
burden.^ He declares that the staple of the trade was
wine, which, not being produced in the country, was
regularly imported from abroad year after year. In
the story of Parsondas we find Nannarus abundantly
supplied with wine, and liberal in its use.^ The
Chaldsean account of the Deluge represents Hasis-
adra as collecting it " in receptacles, like the waters of
a river," for the benefit of those who were about to
enter the ark,^ and as pouring " seven jugs " of it in
libation, when, on the subsidence of the waters, he
quitted his shelter.* Quintus Curtius relates that the
Babylonians of Alexander's time were fond of drinking
wine to excess ; their banquets were magnificent, and
generally ended in drunkenness."^

The employment of war-chariots by the Babylo-
nians, which is asserted by Jeremiah (Jer. iv. 13; 1. 37),
in marked contrast with his descriptions of the Medo-
Persians, who are represented as "riders upon horses'*
(ib. ver. 42 ; compare ch. li. 27), receives confirmation

1 Herod,, i. 194. ^ggg jsjic. Dam., Fr. il.

3 " Records of the Past," vol. vii,, p. 137.

*Ibid., p. 140. ^ Q. Curt., v. i.

150 BAB YL ON AND E G YFT.

from the Assyrian inscriptions, which repeatedly
mention the chariot force as an important part of the
Babylonian army/ and is also noticed by Polyhistor.^
Their skill with the bow, also noted by the same
prophet (ch. iv. 29; v. 16; vi. 23 ; li. 3), has the support
of yEschylus,^ and is in accordance with the monu-
ments, which show us the bow as the favourite weapon
of the monarchs.'^

The pronounced idolatry prevalent in Babylon
under the later kings, which Scripture sets forth in
such strong terms (Jer. 1. 2, 38 ; li. i7,-47, 52 ; Dan. v.
4), scarcely requires the confirmation which is lent to
it by the inscriptions and by profane writers. Idola-
trous systems had possession of all Western Asia at
the time, and the Babylonian idolatry was not of a
much grosser type than the Assyrian, the Syrian, or
the Phoenician. But it is perhaps worthy of remark
that the particular phase of the religion, which the
great Hebrew prophets set forth, is exactly that found
by the remains to have characterized the later empire.
In the works of these writers three Babylonian gods
only are particularised by name — Bel, Nebo, Merodach
— and in the monuments of the period these three
deities are exactly those which obtain • the most
frequent mention and hold the most prominent place.

^''Records of the Past," vol. i., p. 22; vol. vii., p. 59; vol. xi.
P- 55-

2 See the " Fragm. Hist. Grsec." of C. Muller, vol. ii.

^^schyl., "Pers.," 1. 55.

* See " Ancient Monarchies," vol. ii., p. 560; vol. iii., p, 7.

NOTICES IN DANIEL, ISAIAH, ETC. 151

The kings of the later empire, with a single exception,
had names which placed them under the protection of
one or other of these three ; and their inscriptions
show that to these three they paid, at any rate, especial
honour. Merodach holds the first place in the
memorials of their reigns left by Nebuchadnezzar and
Neriglissar ; Bel and Nebo bear off the palm in the
inscriptions of Nabonidus. While " the great gods "
obtain occasional but scanty notice, as " the holy
gods " do in the Book of Daniel (Dan. iv. 8, 9), Bel,
Nebo, and Merodach alone occur frequently, alone
seem to be viewed, not as local, but as great national
deities, alone engage the thoughts and receive the
adoration of the nation.

CHAPTER XII.

FURTHER NOTICES OF BABYLON IN ISAIAH AND
JEREMIAH.

The complete destruction of Babylon, and her desola-
tion through long ages, is prophesied in Scripture
repeatedly, and with a distinctness and minuteness
that are very remarkable. The most striking of the
prophecies are the following: —

** Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees' excel-
lency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. It shall
never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to gene-
ration; neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there, neither shall the
shepherds make their fold there. But 7mld beasts of the desert shall lie
there ; and their houses shall be full of doleful creatures ; and owls
shall d7uell there, and satyrs shall dance there. And the wild beasts of
the islands shall cry in their desolate houses, and dragons in their
pleasant palaces ; and her time is near to come ; and her days shall not
be prolonged." — IsA, xiii. 19-22.

" I will rise up against them, saith the Lord of hosts, and cut off
from Babylon the name, and remnant, and son, and nephew, saith the
Lord. I will also 7nake it a possession for the bittern, and pools of
water ; and I will sweep it with the besom of destruction, saith the
Lord of hosts." — IsA. xiv. 22, 23.

" Chaldea shall be a spoil ; all that spoil her shall be satisfied, saith
the Lord. Because ye were glad, because ye rejoiced, O ye destroyers
of My heritage ; because ye are giown fat, as the heifer at grass, and
152

NOTICES IN ISAIAH AND JEREMIAH. 153

bellow as bulls ; your mother shall be sore confounded ; she that bare
you shall be ashamed ; behold, the hindermost of the nations shall be a
wilderness^ a dry landy and a desert. Because of the wrath of the
Lord it shall not be inhabited^ but it shall be wholly desolate ; every one
that goeth by Babylon shall be astonished, and hiss at all her plagues.
Put yourselves in an-ay against Babylon round about ; all ye that bend
the bow, shoot at her, spare no arrows ; for she hath sinned against the
Lord. Shout against her round about : she hath given her hand ; her
foundations are fallen, her zualls are thrown down ; for it is the ven-
geance of the Lord : take vengeance upon her : as she hath done, do
unto her." — Jer. 1, 10-15.

'■'■A drought is upon her waters; and they shall be dried up ; for it is
the land of graven images, and they are mad upon their idols. There-
fore the wild beasts of the desert, with the wild beasts of the islands,
shall dwell there, and the owls shall dwell therein ; and it shall be no
more inhabited for ever ; neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to
generation. As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbour
cities thereof, saith the Lord, so shall no man abide there, neither shall
any son of man dwell therein.'' — Vers. 38-40.

" Thus saith the Lord ; Behold, I will plead thy cause, and take
vengeance for thee ; and / will dry up her sea, and make her springs dry.
And Babylon shall become heaps, a dwelling-place for dragons, an
astonishment and a hissing, without an inhabitant. They shall roar
together like lions ; they shall yell as lions' whelps. In their heat I will
make their feasts, and I will make them drunken, that they may rejoice,
and sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, saith the Lord. I will bring
them down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams with he-goats. How
is Sheshach taken! And how is the praise of the whole earth sur-
prised ! How is Babylon become an astonishment among the nations !
The sea is come up tcpon Babylon; she is covered with the multitude
of the waves thereof. Her cities are a desolation, a dry land, and a
wilderness, a land wherein no man dzvelleth, neither doth any son of
man pass thereby."— ]er. li. 36-43-

The general accuracy of these descriptions has been
frequently noticed, scarcely a traveller from the time

154

BAB YL ON AND EG YPT.

of Pietro della Valle to the present day having failed
to be struck by it. But it seems worth while to con-
sider, somewhat in detail, the principal points on
which the prophetical writers insist, and to adduce
upon each of them the testimony of modern observers.
First, then, the foundations of Babylon were to fall,
her lofty and broad walls were to be thrown down
(Jer. 1. 15), and she was not to present the appearance
of a ruined city at all, but simply to " become heaps "
(ch. li. 37). It is the constant remark of travellers
that what are called the ruins of Babylon are simply
a succession of unsightly mounds, some smaller, some
larger — "shapeless heaps of rubbish,"^ "immense
tumuli,"^ elevations that might easily be mistaken for
natural hills, and that only after careful examination
convince the beholder that they are human construc-
tions.^ The complete disappearance of the walls is
particularly noticed;* and the visitor,^ who has alone
attempted to conjecture the position which they occu-
pied, can mark no more than some half-dozen mounds
along the line which he ventures to assign to them.
One main portion of the ruins is known to the Arabs
as the Mujellibe, or " the Overturned," from the utter

^Layard, "Nineveh and Babylon," p. 491.

2 Ker Porter, "Travels," vol. ii., p. 294.

^Ker Porter speaks of the ruins as "ancient foundations, more
resembling natural hills in appearance, than mounds covering the
remains of fomier great and splendid edifices" ("Travels," vol. ii.,
p. 297).

*Layard, "Nineveh and Babylon," pp. 493, 494.

^Oppert, "Expedition Scientifique en M6sopotamie," vol. i., pp. 220-
234.

NOTICES IN ISAIAH AND JEREMIAH. 155

confusion that reigns among the broken walls and
blocked passages and deranged bricks of its interior.
Only a single fragment of a building still erects itself
above the mass of rubbish whereof the mounds are
chiefly composed/ to show that human habitations
really once stood where all is now ruin, decay, and
desolation.

When Babylon was standing in all its glory, with
its great rampart walls from two hundred to three
hundred feet high, with its lofty palaces and temple-
towers, with its " hanging gardens," reckoned one of
the world's wonders, and even its ordinary houses
from three to four stories high,^ it was a bold prophecy
that the whole would one day disappear — that the
edifices would all crumble into ruin, and the decom-
posed material cover up and conceal the massive
towers and walls, presenting nothing to the eye but
rounded hillocks, huge unsightly "heaps." It may be
that such a fate had already befallen the great cities of
Assyria, which had been destroyed nearly a century
earlier, and which, from the nature of their materials,
must have gone rapidly to decay. But the lessons
of the past do not readily impress themselves on men ;
and it must have required a deep conviction of God's
absolute foreknowledge on the part of the Hebrew
prophets to publish it abroad, on the strength of a
spiritual communication, that such a fate would over-

1 Layard, " Nineveh and Babylon," p. 484; Rich, "First Memoir,"
P- 25.

2 Herod., i. 180.

56 BAB YL ON AND E G YPT.

take the greatest city of their day — " the glory of
kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency"
(Isa. xiii. 19) — the city "given to pleasure, that dwelt
carelessly, that said in her heart, I am, and none else
beside me ; I shall not sit as a widow, neither shall I
know the loss of children " (ch. xlvii. 8).

The second point specially to be noted in the
prophecies concerning Babylon is the prediction of
absolute loss of inhabitants. The positions of import-
ant cities are usually so well chosen, so rich in natural
advantages, that population clings to them ; dwindle
and decay as they may, decline as they may from their '
high estate, some town, some village, some collection
of human dwellings still occupies a portion of the
original site ; their ruins echo to the sound of the
human voice; they are not absolute solitudes.
Clusters of Arab huts cling about the pillars of the
great temples at Luxor and Karnak ; the village of
Nebbi Yunus crowns the hill formed by the ruins of
Sennacherib's palace at Nineveh ; Memphis hears the
hum of the great city of Cairo ; Tanis, the capital of
Rameses II. and his successor, the Pharaoh of the
Exodus, lives on in the mud hovels of San ; Damas-
cus, Athens, Rome, Antioch, Byzantium, Alexandria,
have remained continuously from the time of their
foundation towns of consequence. But Babylon soon
became, and has for ages been, an absolute desert=
Strabo, writing in the reign of Augustus, could say
of it that " the great city had become a great solitude." ^

^Strab., xvi. I, ^ 5 : — 'H neydlr] TrdTiiq jueydTirj 'crtv Iprjuia

NOTICES IN ISAIAH AND JEREMIAH. 157

Jerome tells us that the Persian kings had made it
into one of their ** paradises," or hunting parks/
Seleucia, Ctesiphon, Bagdad, successively took its
place, and were built out of its ruins. There was " no
healing of its bruise." When European travellers
began to make their way to the far East, the report
which they brought home was as follows : — " Babylon
is in the grete desertes of Arabye, upon the way as
men gone towards the kyngdome of Caldee. But it
is fulle longe sithe ony man neyhe to the towne ; for
it is alle dcscrte, and fulle of dragons and grete
serpentes." ^ The accounts of modern explorers are
similar. They tell us that ''the site of Babylon is a
naked and a hideous waste." ^ "All around," says one
of the latest, " is a blank waste, recalling the words
of Jeremiah — ' Her cities are a desolation, a dry land,
and a wilderness, a land wherein no man dwelleth,
neither doth any son of man pass thereby.'"'^ No
village crowns any of the great mounds which mark
the situations of the principal buildings; no huts
nestle among the lower eminences. A single modern
building shows itself on the summit of the largest
tumulus ; it is a tomb, empty and silent.

Isaiah intensifies his description of the solitude by
the statement, " Neither shall the Arabian pitch tent
there, neither shall the shepherds make their fold
there" (ch. xiii. 20). If the entire space contained

1 " Comment, in Esaiam,'' vol. v., p. 25, C.

2 Maundeville's Travels (1322), quoted by Ker Porter, vol.ii., p. 336.

^Layard, 1. s. c. *Loftus, "Chaldasa and Susiana," p. 20.

158 BABYLON AND EGYPT.

within the circuit of the ancient walls be viewed as
" Babylon," the words of the prophet will not be liter-
ally true. The black tents of the Zobeide Arabs are
often seen dotting the plain — green in spring, yellow
in autumn — which encircles the great mounds, stretch-
ing from their base to the far horizon. Much of this
space was no doubt included within the walls of the
ancient city ; and this is traversed by the Arabian from
time to time — flocks are pastured there, and tents
pitched there. But if the term " Babylon " be restricted
to the mass of ruins to which the name still attaches,
and which must have constituted the heart of the
ancient town, then Isaiah's words will be strictly true
in their most literal sense. On the actual ruins of
Babylon the Arabian neither pitches his tent nor
pastures his flocks — in the first place, because the
nitrous soil produces no pasture to tempt him ; and
secondly, because an evil reputation attaches to the
entire site, which is thought to be the haunt of evil
spirits.^

A curious feature in the prophecies, and one worthy
of notice, is the apparent contradiction that exists
between two sets of statements contained in them, one
of which attributes the desolation of Babylon to the
action of water, while the other represents the waters
as "dried up," and the site as cursed with drought and

^"AIl the people of the country," says Mr. Rich, "assert that it is
extremely dangerous to approach this mound (the Kasr) after nightfall,
on account of the multitude of evil spirits by which it is haunted"
("First Memoir," p. 27). Compare Ker Porter's "Travels," vol. ii.,
P-37I-

NOTICES IN ISAIAH AND JEREMIAH. 159

barrenness. To the former class belong the statements
of Isaiah, " I will also make it a possession for the
bittern, and pools of water'' (ch. xiv. 23); and "The
cormorant (pelican ?) and the bittern shall possess it" (ch.
xxxiv. 11); together with the following passage of
Jeremiah, " The sea is come up upon Babylon ; she is
covered with the imdtitude of the waves thereof (ch. li.
42) ; to the latter such declarations as the subjoined,
" A drought is upon her waters, and they shall be dried
up'' (Jer. 1. 38); " I will dry up her sea" (ch. li. 36);
" Her cities are a desolation, a dry land, and a wilder-
ness " (ver. 43) ; " the hindermost of the nations shall
be a wilderness, a dry land, and a desert" (ch. 1. 12);
** Come down and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of
Babylon" (Isa. xlvii. i).

But this antithesis, this paradox, is exactly in
accordance with the condition of things which trav-
ellers note as to this day attaching to the site. The
dry, arid aspect of the ruins, of the vast mounds which
cover the greater buildings, and even the lesser
elevations which spread far into the plain at their base,
receives continual notice. " The whole surface of the
mounds appears to the eye," says Ker Porter, "nothing
but vast irregular hills of earth, mixed with fragments
of brick, pottery, vitrifications, mortar, bitumen, etc.,
while the foot at every step sinks into the loose dust
and rubbish."'^ And again ''Every spot of ground in
sight zvas totally barren, and on several tracts appeared
the common marks of former building. It is an old

^ Ker Porter, "Travels," vol, ii., p. 372.

1 60 BAB YL ON AND EGYPT.

adage that ' where a curse has fallen grass will never
grow.* In like manner the decomposing materials of a
Babylonian structure doom the earth on wJiich they perish
to an everlasting sterility T ^ " On all sides," says Sir
Austen Layard, " fragments of glass, marble, pottery,
and inscribed brick are mingled with that peculiar
nitrous and blanched soil which, bred from the remains
of ancient habitations, checks or destroys vegetation,
and renders the site of Babylon a naked and hideous
waster'^

On the other hand, the neglect of the embankments
and canals which anciently controlled the waters of
the Euphrates, and made them a defence to the city
and not a danger, has consigned great part of what
was anciently Babylon to the continual invasion of
floods, which, stagnating in the lower grounds, have
converted large tracts once included within the walls
of the city into lakes, pools, and marshes. "The
country to the westward of Babylon," writes Ker
Porter, " seemed very low and swampy. . . . On
turning to the north, similar morasses and ponds
tracked the land in various parts. Indeed, for a long
time after the annual overflowing of the Euphrates, not
only great part of the plain is little better than a swamp,
but large deposits of the waters are left stagnant in
the hollows between the ruins." ^ " From the summit
of the Birs Nimroud," observes Layard, "I gazed over

^ Ker Porter, "Travels," vol. ii., p, 391.

2 Layard, '< Nineveh and Babylon," p. 484.

3 Ker Porter, " Travels," vol. ii., p. 389.

NO TICES IN ISAIAH AND JEREMIAH. i6i

a vast marsh, for Babylon is made 'a possession for
the bittern, and pools of water.' " ^ Of the space imme-
diately about the chief ruins, Ker Porter notes, *' This
spot contains some cultivation, but more water, which
sapping element may well account for the abrupt
disappearance of the two parallel ridges at its most
swampy point." ^

Even some of the minor features of the picture,
which one might naturally have regarded as the mere
artistic filling up of the scene of desolation, which he
had to depict, by the imagination of the prophet, are
found to be in strict and literal accordance with the
actual fact. ** The daughters of the owl shall dwell
there," says Isaiah (ch. xiii. 21), and Jeremiah, *' The
owls shall dwell therein " (ch. 1. 39). " In most of the
cavities of the Babil mound," remarks Mr. Rich, "there
are numbers of bats and owlsT ^ Sir Austen Layard
goes further into particulars. " A large grey owl," he
tells us, " is found in great numbers — frequently in
flocks of nearly a hundred — in the low shrubs among
the ruins of Babylon." ^ The " owl " of the prophets
is thus not a mere flourish of rhetoric, but a historical
reality — an actual feature of the scene, as it presents
itself to the traveller at the present day.

"Wild beasts of the desert shall lie there" (Isa. xiii.
21); "the wild beasts of the desert, with the wild

* " Nineveh and Babylon," p. 300.
2 Ker Porter, "Travels," vol. ii., p. 351.
' Rich, "First Memoir," p. 30.
* Layard, " Nineveh and Babylon," p. 484, note.
II

i62 BAB YL ON AND EG YPT.

beasts of the islands, shall dwell there " (Jer. 1. 39).
So it was prophesied, and so it is. Speaking of the
Babil mound, Mr. Rich observes, " There are many
dens of wild beasts in various parts, in one of which
I found the bones of sheep and other animals, and
perceived a strong smell, like that of a lion."^ "There
are several deep excavations into the sides of the
mound," remarks Ker Porter. " These souterrains
are now the refuge of jackals and other savage animals.
The mouths of their entrances are strewn with the
bones of sheep and goats ; and the loathsome smell
that issues from most of them is sufficient warning
not to proceed into the den." ^ On a visit to the Birs
Nimroud, the same traveller observed through his
glass several lions on the summit of the great mound,
and afterwards found their foot-prints in the soft soil
of the desert at its base.^ This feature of the prophe-
cies also is therefore literally fulfilled. The solitude,
deserted by men, is sought the more on that account
by the wild beasts of the country ; and the lion, the
jackal, and probably the leopard, have their lairs in
the substructions of the temple of Belus, and the
palace of Nebuchadnezzar.

No doubt there are also features of the prophetic
announcements which have not at present been
authenticated. It is impossible to say what exactly
was intended by the " doleful creatures " and the
"satyrs" of Isaiah, which were to haunt the ruins,

* Rich, " First Memoir," pp. 29, 30.

' Ker Porter, " Travels," vol, ii., p, 342. ' Ibid., pp. 387-8.

NO TICES IN ISA I AH A ND JEREMIAH. 1 63

and to have their habitation among them. Literally,
the "satyrs " are "hairy ones,"^ — a descriptive epithet,
which is applicable to beasts of the field generally.
The " dragons " of Isaiah (ch. xiii. 22) and Jeremiah
(ch. li. 37) should be serpents, which have not been
noted recently as lurking among the " heaps." Sir J.
Maundeville,^ however, tells us that in his day — the
early part of the fourteenth century — the site of Baby-
lon was " fulle of dragons and grete serpentes," as
well as of " dyverse other veneymouse bestes alle
abouten." It is possible that the breed of serpents
has died out in Lower Mesopotamia ; it is equally
possible that it exists, but has been hitherto overlooked
by travellers.^

On the whole, it is submitted to the reader's judg-
ment whether the prophetic announcements of Holy
Scripture, as to what was to befall Babylon, are not
almost as important evidence of the truth of the
Scripture record as the historical descriptions. The
historical descriptions have to be compared with the
statements of profane writers, which may or may not
be true statements. The prophetical declarations can
be placed side by side with actual tangible facts — facts
which it is impossible to gainsay, facts whereto each
fresh observer who penetrates into Lower Mesopo-
tamia is an additional witness. Travellers to the site

1 D"U:^K? from '^"'^^, "hairy, rough."

2 Quoted by Ker Porter ("Travels," vol. ii., p. 336).

^ If the true interpretation of the word used be (as some think)
"jackals," the statement made would be one of those fulfilled most
clearly.

i64 BAB YL ON AND EGYPT.

of Babylon, even when in no respect religious men,
are, if they have the most moderate acquaintance with
Scripture, penetrated with a deep feeling of astonish-
ment at the exactness of the agreement between the
announcements made two thousand five hundred years
ago and the actual state of things which they see with
their eyes. The fate denounced against Babylon has
been accomplished, not only in all essential points, but
even in various minute particulars. The facts cannot
be disputed — there they are. While historical evidence
loses force the further we are removed from the events
recorded, the evidence of fulfilled prophecy continually
gains in strength as the ages roll on in their unceasing
course ; and the modern searcher after truth possesses
proofs of the trustworthiness of the Word of God
which were denied to those who lived at an earlier
period.

CHAPTER XIII.

NOTICES OF EGYPT IN GENESIS.

" The sons of Ham : Cush, and Mizraim, and Phut, and Canaan "
(Gen. X. 6). " And Mizraim begat Ludim, and Ananim, and Lehabim,
and Naphtuhim, and Pathrusim, and Casluhim (out of whom came
Philistim), and Caphtorim." — Vers. 13, 14.

These are the first notices of Egypt which occur in
Holy Scripture. The word Mizraim, which is here
simply transliterated from the Hebrew (an^fp), is else-
where, except in i Chron. i. 8, uniformly translated by
" Egypt," or " the Egyptians." It undoubtedly desig-
nates the country still known to us as Egypt ; but the
origin of the name is obscure. There is no term
corresponding to it in the hieroglyphical inscriptions,
where Egypt is called "Kam," or "Khem," "the Black
(land)," or " Ta Mera," "the inundation country."
The Assyrians, however, are found to have denomi-
nated the region " Muzur," or " Musr," and the Persians
" Mudr," or " Mudraya," a manifest corruption. The
present Arabic name is " Misr " ; and it is quite
possible that these various forms represent some
ancient Egyptian word, which was in use among the
people, though not found in the hieroglyphics. The

165

1 66 BAB YL ON A ND EGYPT.

Hebrew " Mizraim " is a dual word, and signifies "the
two Mizrs," or " the two Egypts," an expression readily
intelligible from the physical conformation of the
country, which naturally divides itself into "Upper"
and " Lower Egypt," the long narrow valley of the
Nile, and the broad tract, known as the Delta, on the
Mediterranean.

We learn from the former of the two passages
quoted above that the Egyptian people was closely
allied to three others, viz., the Cushite or Ethiopian
race, the people known to the Hebrews as " Phut,"
and the primitive inhabitants of Canaan. The ethnic
connection of ancient races is a matter rarely touched
on by profane writers ; but the connection of the
Egyptians with the Canaanites was asserted by Eupo-
lemus,^ and a large body of classical tradition tends to
unite them with the Ethiopians. The readiness with
which Ethiopia received Egyptian civilization^ lends
support to the theory of a primitive identity of race ;
and linguistic research, so far as it has been pursued
hitherto, is in harmony with the supposed close
connection.

From the other passage (Gen. x. 13, 14) we learn
that the Egyptians themselves were ethnically separ-
ated into a number of distinct tribes, or subordinate
races, of whom the writer enumerates no fewer than
seven. The names point to a geographic separation

^ See a fragment of Eupolemus quoted by Polyhistor in C. Muller's
"Fr. Hist. Groec," vol. iii., p. 212, Fr. 3.
2 Herod, ii. 30.

NOTICES IN GENESIS. 167

of the races, since they have their representatives in
different portions of the Egyptian territory. Now this
separation accords with, and explains, the strongly
marked division of Egypt into " nomes," having con-
flicting usages and competing religious systems. It
suggests the idea that the " nome " was the original
territory of a tribe, and that the Egyptian monarchy
grew up by an aggregation of nomes, which were not
originally divisions of a kingdom, like coundes, but
distinct states, like the kingdoms of the Heptarchy.
This is a view taken by many of the historians of
ancient Egypt, derived from the facts as they existed in
later times. It receives confirmation and explanation
from the enumeration of Egyptian races — not a com-
plete one, probably— \v hi ch is made in this passage.

" Abram went down into Egypt, to sojourn there . . . And it came
to pass that, when Abram was come into Egypt, the Egyptians beheld-
the woman (Sarai) that she was \cxy fair. The princes also of Pharaoh
saw her and commended her before Pharaoh; and the woman was
taken into Pharaoh's house. And he entreated Abram well for her
sake : and he had sheep, and oxen, and he-asses, and men-servants, and
maid-servants, and she-asses, and camels. And the Lord plagued
Pharaoh and his house with great plagues, because of Sarai, Abram's
wife. And Pharaoh called Abram, and said. What is this that thou
hast done unto me ? Why didst thou not tell me that she was thy
wife ? Why saidst thou. She is my sister ? So I might have taken her
to me to wife : now therefore behold thy wife, take her, and go thy
way. And Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him : and they
sent him away, and his wife, and all that he had."— Gen. xii. 10-20.

The early date of this notice makes it peculiarly
interesting. Whether we take the date of Abraham's

1 68 BAB YL ON AND E G YPT.

visit as circ. b. c. 1920, with Usher, or, with others,^ as
a hundred and sixty years earher, it seems almost
certain that it must have fallen into the time of that
" old Egyptian Empire " which preceded the great
Hyksos invasion, and developed at that remote date
the original Egyptian civilization. Does then the
portraiture of the Egypt of this period resemble that
of the ancient empire, as revealed to us by the monu-
ments ? No doubt the portraiture is exceedingly
slight, the main object of the writer, apparently, being
to record an incident in the life of Abraham wherein
he fell into sin. Still certain points are sufficiently
marked, as the following: — i. Egypt is a settled
monarchy under a Pharaoh, who has princes {sarini)
under him, at a time when the neighbouring countries
are occupied mainly by nomadic tribes under petty
chiefs. 2. Reports are brought to the Pharaoh by his
princes with respect to foreigners who enter his
country. 3. Egypt is already known as a land of
plenty, where there will be corn and forage when
famine has fallen upon Syria. 4. Domesticated ani-
mals are abundant there, and include sheep, oxen,
asses, and camels, but (apparently) no horses. What
has profane history to say on these four points ?

First, then, profane history lays it down that a
settled government was established in Egypt, and
monarchical institutions set up, at an earlier date than
in any other country. On this point Herodotus,
Diodorus, and the Greek writers generally, are agreed,
»As Mr. Stuart Poole ("Diet, of the Bible," vol. i., p. 508).

NOTICES IN GENESIS. 169

while the existing remains, assisted by the interpreta-
tion of Manetho, point to the same result. It is not
now questioned by any historian of repute but that
the Eg>'ptian monarchy dates from a time anterior to
B. c. 20CX), while there are writers who carry it back to
B.C. 5004.^ The title of the monarch, from a very
remote antiquity,^ was " Per-ao," or " the Great
House," ^ which the Hebrews would naturally repre-
sent by Phar-aoh (ri;?n£!). He was, from the earliest
times to which the monuments go back, supported by
powerful nobles, or " princes," who were hereditary
landed proprietors of great wealth.*

Secondly, a scene in a tomb at Beni Hassan clearly
shows that, under the Old Empire, foreigners on their
arrival in the country, especially if they came with a
train of attendants, as Abraham would (Gen. xiv. 14),
were received at the frontier by the governor of the
province, whose secretary took down in writing their
number, and probably their description, doubtless for
the purpose of forwarding a " report " to the court.
Reports of this character, belonging to later times,
have been found, and are among the most interesting
of the ancient documents. It was regarded as espe-
cially important to apprise the monarch of all that
happened upon his north-eastern frontier, where Egypt

» So Lenormant, following Mariette (" Manuel d'Histoire Aneienne,'*
vol. i., p. 321).

2 See Canon Cook in the "Speaker's Conimentary," vol. i., p. 47S,

3 Compare the phrase " the Ottoman Porte."

* Birch, " Egypt from the Earliest Times," pp. 44, 64, etc.

1 70 BAB YL ON AND E G YPT.

abutted upon tribes of some considerable strength,
whose proceedings had to be watched with care.

Thirdly, there is abundant evidence that, under the
Old Empire, Egypt was largely productive, and kept
in its granaries a great store of corn, which was
available either for home consumption, or for the
relief of foreigners on occasions of scarcity. In the
time of the twelfth dynasty state-granaries existed,
which were under the control of overseers appointed
by the crown, who were officials of a high dignity,
and had many scribes, or clerks, employed in carrying
out the details of their business.^ Even private per-
sons laid up large quantities of grain, and were able in
bad seasons to prevent any severe distress, either by
gratuitous distributions, or by selling their accumula-
tions at a moderate price.^

Fourthly, the domesticated animals in the early
times include all those mentioned as given to Abra-
ham by the Pharaoh with whom he came into contact,
except the camel, while they do not include the horse.
It was once denied^ that the Egypt of Abraham's
time possessed asses ; but the tombs of Ghizeh have
shown that they were the ordinary beast of burden
during the pyramid period, and that sometimes an
individual possessed as many as seven or eight hun-
dred. No trace has been found of camels in the
Egyptian monuments, and it is quite possible that

^ Birch, " Egypt from the Earliest Times," p. 63.

2 " Records of the Past," vol. xii., pp. 63, 64.

3 By Von Bohlcn in his " Die Genesis erlautert."

NOTICES IN GENESIS. 171

they were only employed upon the north-eastern
frontier ; but the traffic between Egypt and the Sinaitic
peninsula, which was certainly carried on by the
Pharaohs of the fourth, fifth, sixth, and twelfth dynas-
ties, can scarcely have been conducted in any other
way.^ For Abraham, a temporary sojourner in the
land, about to return through the desert into Palestine,
camels would be a most appropriate present, and thus
their inclusion in the list of animals given is open to no
reasonable objection, though certainly v/ithout con-
firmation from the remains hitherto discovered in
Egypt. The omission from the list of the horse is, on
the contrary, a most significant fact, since horses, so
abundant in Egypt at the date of the Exodus (Exod.
ix. 3 ; xiv. 9, 23 ; xv. I, 21), were unknown under the
early monarchy,^ having been first introduced by the
Hyksos, and first largely used by the kings of the
eighteenth dynasty.

" They lifted up their eyes, and looked, and, behold, a company of
Ishmaelites came from Gilead, with their camels, bearing spicer}', and
balm, and myrrh, going to carry it down to Eg>'pt . . . and they sold
Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver : and they brought
Joseph into Egypt . . . and sold him into Egypt unto Potiphar, an
officer of Pharaoh's, and captain of the guard." — Gen, xxxvii. 25-36.

The first thing here especially noticeable is that
Egypt requires for its consumption large quantities of
spices, and is supplied with them, not by direct com-

* Compare Gen. xxxvii. 25.

2 Birch, pp. 42, 82 ; Chabas, " Etudes sur 1' Antiquite Historique," p.
421.

172 BABYLON AND EGYPT.

merce with Arabia across the Red Sea, as we might
have expected, but by caravans of merchants, who
reach Egypt through Gilead and Southern Palestine.
Now the large consumption of spices by the Egyptians
is witnessed by Herodotus, who tells us that, in the
best method of embalming, which was employed by
all the wealthier classes of the Egyptians, a large
quantity of aromatics, especially myrrh and cassia, was
necessary, the abdomen being not only washed out
with an infusion of them, but afterwards filled up with
the bruised spices themselves/ The Egyptian monu-
ments show that aromatics were also required for the
worship of the gods, especially Ammon. Not only
do we continually see the priests with censers in their
hands, in which incense is being burnt, but we read of
an expedition made to the land of Punt for the express
purpose of bringing frankincense and frankincense
trees " for the majesty of the god Ammon," to
" honour him with resin from the incense-trees, and
by vases full of fresh incense."^ It is observable,
however, on this particular occasion, the spicery
imported came from Arabia, and reached Egypt by
sea, which may seem at first sight to be an objection
to the existence of a caravan spice trade. But a con-
sideration of the dates deprives this objection of all
force. The expedition to Punt, which is spoken of as
the first that ever took place, was sent by Queen
Hatasu, and belongs to the eighteenth dynasty— the
first of the New Empire. Joseph was sold into Egypt
^ Herod, ii. 86. 2 « Records of the Past," vol x., pp. 18, 19.

NOTICES IN GENESIS. 173

under the Middle Empire, and, according to tradition,^
was prime minister of Apepi, the " shepherd " king.
The sea-trade with Punt for spices not being at that
time open, the spices of Arabia could only be obtained
by land traffic.

The passage further implies the existence in Egypt
at this time of a traffic in slaves, who were foreigners,
and valued at no very high rate. The monuments
prove slaves to have been exceedingly numerous
under the Ancient Empire. The king had a vast
number ; the estates of the nobles were cultivated by
them ; and a large body of hicroduli, or " sacred
slaves," was attached to most of the temples. Foreign
slaves seem to have been preferred to native ones, and
wars were sometimes undertaken less with the object
of conquest or subjugation than with that of obtaining
a profit by selling those who were taken prisoners in
the slave market.^ We have no direct information as
to the value of slaves at this period from Egyptian
sources, but from their abundance they were likely to
be low-priced, and " twenty shekels " is very much the
rate at which, judging from analogy, we should have
been inclined to estimate them.

" The Lord was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man ; and he
was in the house of his master, the Egyptian. And his master saw
that the Lord was with him, and that the Lord made all that he did to
prosper in his hand. And Joseph found grace in his sight, and he
served him ; and he made him overseer over his house, and all that he

1 Syncellus, " Chronograph," p. 62, B.

2 Brugsch, " Hist, of Egypt," vol. 1., p. i6l.

174

BAB YL ON AND EG YPT.

had he put into his hand. And it came to pass from the time that he had
made him overseer in his house, and over all that he had, that the Lord
blessed the Egyptian's house for Joseph's sake ; and the blessing of the
Lord was upon all that he had in the house, and in the field. And he
left all that he had in Joseph's hand, and he knew not aught he had,
save the bread which he did eat. And Joseph was a goodly person
and well-favoured. And it came to pass after these thnigs that his
master's wife cast her eyes upon Joseph ; and she said, Lie with me.
But he refused, and said unto his master's wife. Behold, my master
wotteth not what is with me in the house, and he hath committed all
that he hath to my hand ; there is none greater in this house than I ;
neither hath he kept back anything from me but thee,.because thou art
his wife ; how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against
God ? And it came to pass, as she spake to Joseph day by day, that he
hearkened not to her, to lie by her, or to be with her. And it came to
pass about this time that Joseph went into the house to do his business,
and there was none of the men of the house there within. And she
caught him by his garment, saying. Lie with me ; and he left his gar-
ment in her hand, and fled, and got him out. And it came to pass
when she saw that he had left his garment in her hand, and was
fled forth, that she called unto the men of her house, and spake unto
them saying, See he hath brought in an Hebrew unto us to mock us ; he
came in unto me to lie with me, and I cried with a loud voice ; and it
came to pass, when he heard that I lifted up my voice and ci-icd, that
he left his garment with me, and fled, and got him out. And she laid
up his garment by her until his lord came home. And she spoke unto
him according to these words, saying, The Hebrew servant which thou
hast brought unto us came in unto me to mock me ; and it came to
pass, as I lifted up my voice and cried, that he left his garment with me
and fled out. And it came to pass, when his master heard "the words
of his wife, which she spake unto him, saying. After this manner did
thy servant to me, that his wrath was kindled. And Joseph's master
took him and put him into the prison." — Gen. xxxix. 2-20.

It has often been observed that this picture is in
remarkable harmony with the general tone of Egyptian

NOTICES IN GENESIS. 175

manners and customs. The licentiousness of the
women provoked the strictures of the Greek historians,
Herodotus and Diodorus/ The Hberty which they
enjoyed of intermixing and conversing with men, so
contrary to the general Oriental practice, is fully borne
out, both by the tales of the Egyptian novelists, and
by the scenes represented upon the monuments. The
life of an Egyptian noble, at once a royal official and
a landed proprietor, with much to manage " in the
field " (ver. 5) as well as in his house, is graphically
sketched. The one garment of the slave is casually
indicated by the expression, so often repeated, " he
left Jiis garment in her hand." The extraordinary
dependence placed upon " overseers," or stewards,
who had the entire management of the household, the
accounts, and the farm or estate — a very peculiar
feature of Egyptian life — is set forth with great force.
But, besides these isolated points, the whole narrative
receives most curious illustration from one of the tales
most popular among the Egyptians, which has fortu-
nately descended to our day. In the story of " The
Two Brothers," written by the illustrious scribe Anna,
or Enna, for the delectation of Seti II., when heir-
apparent to the throne, we have a narrative which
contains a passage so nearly parallel to this portion of
Joseph's history, that it seems worth v/hile quoting it
in extenso.

" There were two brothers," says the writer, " children
of one mother and of one father — the name of the

^ Herod, ii. 1 1 1 ; Diod. Sic. i. 59.

176 BAB YL ON AND EG YPT.

elder was Anepu, the name of the younger Bata.
Anepu had a house and a wife; and his younger
brother was like a son to him. He it was who pro-
vided Anepu with clothes, he it was who attended
upon his cattle, he who managed the ploughing, he
who did all the labours of the fields ; indeed, his
younger brother was so good a labourer, that there
was not his equal in the whole land.

" And when the days had multiplied after this, it
was the wont of the younger brother to be with the
cattle day by day, and to take them home to the
house every evening ; he came laden with all the herbs
of the field. The elder brother sat with his wife, and
ate and drank, while the younger was in the stable
with the cattle. The younger, when the day dawned,
rose before his elder brother, took bread to the field,
and called the labourers together to eat bread in the
field. Then he followed after his cattle, and they told
him where all the best grasses grew, for he understood
all that they said ; and he took them to the place
where was the goodly herbage which they desired.
And the cattle which he followed after became exceed-
ingly beautiful. And they multiplied exceedingly.

" Now when the time for ploughing came his elder
brother said to him, * Let us take our teams for
ploughing, because the land has now made its appear-
ance \i. e., the inundation has subsided], and the time
is excellent for ploughing it. Come thou then with
the seed, and we shall accomplish the ploughing.'
Thus he spake. And the younger brother proceeded

NOTICES IN GENESIS. 177

to do all that his elder brother told him ; and when
the day dawned they went to the field with their
[teams ?], and worked at their tillage, and enjoyed
themselves exceedingly at their work.

" But when the days were multiplied after this, they
were in the field together, and the elder brother sent
the younger, saying, ' Go and fetch seed for us from
the village.' And the younger brother found the wife
of the elder one sitting at her toilet ; and he said to
her, * Arise, and give me seed, that I may go back
with it to the field, because my elder brother wishes
me to return without any delay.' And she said to
him, * Go, open the bin, and take, thyself, as much as
thou wilt, since my hair would fall by the way.' So
the youth entered the stable, and took a large vessel,
for he wished to take back a great deal of seed ; and he
loaded himself with grain, and went out with it. And
she said to him, * How much have you [on your arm] ? '
And he answered, * Two measures of barley, and three
measures of wheat — in all, I have five measures on my
arm.' Then she spake to him saying, * What great
strength is there in thee ! Indeed, I notice thy vigour
every day ' . . . Then she seized upon him, and said
to him, * Come and let us lie down for an instant' . . .
The youth became as a panther with fury, on account
of the shameful words which she had addressed to
him. And she herself was alarmed exceedingly. He
spake to her, saying, ' Verily, I have looked upon thee
in the light of a mother, and on thy husband in the
lio-ht of a father. What great abomination is this

178 BAB YL ON AND EG YPT.

which thou hast mentioned to me ! Do not repeat it
again, and I will not speak of it to any one. Verily,
I will not permit a word of it to escape my mouth to
any man.'

" He took up his load, and went forth to the field.
He rejoined his elder brother, and they accomplished
the task of their labour. And when the time of
evening arrived, the elder brother returned to his
house. His younger brother [tarried] behind his
cattle, laden with all the things of the field. He drove
his cattle before him, that they might lie down in their
stable.

" Behold, the wife of the elder brother was alarmed
at the discourse which she had held. She made her-
self as one who has suffered violence from a man ; for
she designed to say to her husband, ' It is thy younger
brother who has done me violence.'

" Her husband returned home at evening, according
to his daily wont. He came to his house, and he
found his wife lying as if murdered by a ruffian. She
did not pour water on his hands, according to her
wont ; she did not light the lamp before him ; his
house was in darkness. She was lying there, all uncov-
ered. Her husband said to her, * Who is it that has
been conversing with thee?' She replied, * No one has
been conversing with me except thy younger brother.
When he came to fetch seed for thee he found me
sitting alone, and he said to me, " Come and let us lie
down for an instant." That is what he said to me.
But I did not listen to him. " Behold, am I not thy

NOTICES IN GENESIS. 179

mother ; and thy elder brother, is he not as a father to
thee ? " — that is what I said to him. Then he became
alarmed, and did me violence, that I might not be able
to report the matter to thee. But if thou lettest him
live, I shall kill myself . . . Then the elder brother
became like a panther; he made his dagger sharp, and
took it in his hand. And he put himself behind the
door of his stable, in order to kill his younger brother,
when he returned at even to bring the cattle to their
stalls." ^

It is unnecessary to pursue the story further.
Anepu is bent on killing his brother, but is prevented.
Potiphar, with a moderation which seems to argue
some distrust of his wife's story, is content to imprison
Joseph. Innocence in both cases suffers, and then
triumphs ; but the triumph in the Egyptian tale is
effected by repeated metempsychosis, and therefore
diverges altogether from the Mosaic history. Still, it
is conceivable that the Egyptian novel, written several
centuries after Joseph's death, was based upon some
traditional knowledge of the ordeal through which he
had passed unscathed, and the ultimate glory to which
he had attained as ruler of Egypt.^

^ See " Records of the Past," vol. ii., pp. 139-142.
* Bata, after his many transmigrations, is finally reborn as the child
of an Egyptian princess, and rules Egypt for thirty years (Ibid., p. 151).

CHAPTER XIV.

FURTHER NOTICES OF EGYPT IN GENESIS.

The history of Joseph in Egypt after he was thrown
into prison by Potiphar, which occupies the last eleven
chapters of Genesis, is delivered to us at too great
length to be conveniently made the subject of illustra-
tion by means of comment on a series of passages.
We propose therefore to view it in the mass, as a
picture of Egypt at a certain period of its history, to
be determined by chronological considerations, and
then to inquire how far the portraiture given corres-
ponds to what is known to us of the Egypt of that
time from profane sources.

The time of Joseph's visit to Egypt is variously
given by chronologers. Archbishop Usher, whose
dates are followed in the margin of the English Bible,
as published by authority, regards him as having
resided in the country from B.C. 1729 to B.C. 1635.
Most other chronologers place his sojourn earlier :
Stuart Poole ^ from B.C. 1867 to B.C. 1772; Glinton^
from B.C. 1862 to B.C. 1770; Hales ^ from B.C. 1886 to

^ "Dictionary of the Bible," vol. i., p. 508.
^ " Fasti Hellenici," vol. i., pp. 300, 320.
' " Ancient Chronology," vol. i., p. 104, et seq.
180

NOTICES IN GENESIS. i8i

B.C. 1792. Even the latest of these dates would make
his arrival anterior to the commencement of the New
Empire, which was certainly not earlier than B.C. 1 700.
If we add to this the statement of George the Syncel-
lus/ that all writers agreed in making him the prime
minister of one of the shepherd kings, we seem to
have sufficient grounds for the belief that the Egypt
of his time was that of the Middle Empire or Hyksos,
an Asiatic people who held Egypt in subjection for
some centuries before the great rising under Aahmes,
which re-established a native dynasty upon the old
throne of the Pharaohs.

Does then the Egypt of the later chapters of
Genesis correspond to this time ? It has been argued
that it does not, because, on the whole, it is so like the
Egypt of other times. We have the king depicted in
all his state, with his signet ring upon his finger (Gen.
xli. 42), with chariots to ride in (ib. 43), and gold
chains to give away, possessed of a " chief butler "
and a "chief baker" (ch. xl. 9, 16), able to imprison
and execute whom he will (ib. 3, 22), with "magicians"
and " wise men " for counsellors (ch. xli. 8), rich in
flocks and herds (ch. xlvii. 6), despotic over the people
(ch. xli. 34; xlvii. 21), with no fear or regard for any
class of his subjects but the priests (ch. xlvii. 22, 26).
We have the priests as a distinctly privileged class,
supported by . the monarch in a time of famine,
possessed of lands, and not compelled to cede to the
king any right over their lands. We have mention of
1 <* Chrpnggraphia," p. 62, B.

1 82 BAB YL ON AND EGYPT.

the " priest of On," or Heliopolis, as a magnate of the
first class, with whom Joseph did not disdain to ally
himself after he had become grand vizier, and was the
next person in the kingdom to the king (ch. xli. 45,
50). We have the Egyptian contempt for foreigners
noted in the statement that " the Egyptians might not
eat bread with the Hebrews " (ch. xliii. 32), and their
special aversion to herdsmen touched on in the obser-
vation that " every shepherd is an abomination unto
the Egyptians " (ch. xlvi. 34). We see agriculture the
main occupation of the people, yet pasturing of cattle
carried on upon a large scale in the Delta (ch. xlvii. i-
6). We find embalming practised, and a special class
of embalmers (ch. 1. 2) ; and it appears that embalmed
bodies are placed within coffins (ib. 26). Chariots and
horses are tolerably common, for when Joseph goes
from Egypt to Canaan to bury his father, there goes
up with him " a very great company, both chariots
&nd horsemen " (ib. 9), while " horses," no less than
cattle and asses, are among the domesticated animals
exchanged by the Egyptians generally for corn (ch.
xlvii. 17). But, though horses are in use among the
people, especially the official classes and the rich, asses
are still the main beasts of burden, and are alone
employed in the conveyance of commodities between
Egypt and Canaan (ch. xlv. 23). Wheeled vehicles
are known, and are used for the conveyance of women
and children (ib. 19-21). Such are the leading features
of the Egypt depicted by the writer of Genesis in
these chapters. The description is said to be too

NOTICES IN GENESIS. 183

thoroughly Egyptian to be a true representation of a
time when a foreign dynasty was in possession, and the
nation was groaning under the yoke of a conqueror.^

The general answer to this objection seems to be
that, as so often happens when a race of superior is
overpowered by one of inferior civilization, the con-
querors rapidly assimilated themselves in most respects
to the conquered, affected their customs, and even to
some extent adopted their prejudices. M. Chabas
remarks that the Hyksos, or shepherd kings, after a
time became ''Egyptianised."^ ''The science and the
usages of Egypt introduced themselves among them.
They surrounded themselves with learned men, built
temples, encouraged statuary, while at the same time
they inscribed their own names on the statues of the
Old Empire, which were still standing, in the place of
those of the Pharaohs who had erected them. It is
this period of civilization which alone has left us the
sphinxes, the statues, and the inscriptions which recall
the art of Egypt ; the manners of the foreign con-
querors had by this time been sensibly softened."^
And again, "Apepi, the last shepherd king, was an
enlightened prince, who maintained a college of men
skilled in sacred lore, after the example of the
Pharaohs of every age, and submitted all matters of
importance to them for examination before he formed
any decision.""* The Pharaoh of Joseph, according to

^ Canon Cook in the " Speaker's Commentary," vol. i., p. 449.
2 " Les Pasteurs en Egypte," p. 30. ^ Ibid., p. 33.

* Ibid., p. 31. Bnigsch and Lenormant take the same view.

1 84 BAB YL ON AND E G YPT.

the Syncellus/ was this very Apepi, the last shep-
herd king, the predecessor of the Aahmes, who,
after a long and severe struggle, expelled the Hyksos,
and re-established in Egypt the rule of a native
dynasty.

Thus, it was to have been expected that, if Joseph
lived under Apepi, or indeed under any one of the
later shepherd kings, a description of the Egypt of his
day would greatly resemble any true description of
that country either in earlier or later times, and
possess but few distinctive features. Still sojne such
distinctive features might have been expected to show
themselves, and it must be our object now to inquire,
first, what they would be ; and secondly, how far, if at
all, they appear in the narrative.

First, then, what distinctive features would there be
separating and marking off the Second Empire from
the First, the Hyksos rule from that of the old
Pharaohs who built the Pyramids, set up the first
obelisks, and accomplished the great works in the
Fayoum ? In the first place, their residence would be
different. The pyramid kings lived at Memphis,
above the apex of the Delta, in the (comparatively
speaking) narrow valley of the Nile, before the river
enters on the broad tract which it must have gradually
formed by its own deposits. The great monarchs of
the obelisk and Fayoum period — those assigned by
Manetho to his eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth
dynasties — lived at Thebes, more than three hundred
^ " Chronographia," p. 62, B.

NOTICES IN GENESIS. 185

miles further up the course of the Nile, in a region
from which the Delta could only be reached by a
lengthy and toilsome journey along the river bank, or
by a voyage down its channel. The Hyksos mon-
archs, on the other hand, fixed their residence in the
Delta itself; they selected Tanis — an ancient Egyptian
town of considerable importance — for the main seat
of their court.^ While maintaining a great fortified
camp at Avaris, on their eastern frontier, where they
lived sometimes, they still more favoured the quiet
Egyptian city on the Tanitic branch of the Nile, where
they could pass their time away from the sound of
arms, amid ancient temples and sanctuaries dedicated
to various Egyptian gods, which they allowed to
stand, if they did not even use them for their own
worship. The Delta had never previously been the
residence of Egyptian kings, and it did not again
become their residence until the time of the nineteenth
dynasty, shortly before the Exodus.

A second peculiarity of the Hyksos period, belong-
ing especially to its later portion, is to be found in
the religious views professed, proclaimed, and enjoined
upon subject princes. Apepi, according to the MS.
known as "the First Sallier papyrus," made a great
movement in Lower Egypt in favour of monotheism.
Whereas previously the shepherd kings had allowed
among their subjects, if they had not even practised
themselves, the worship of a multitude of gods, Apepi
"took to himself" a single god ''for lord, refusing to
^Brugsch, "History of Egypt," vol. i., pp. 236-7, ist edition.

1 86 BAB YL ON AND EGYPT.

serve any other god in the whole land."^ According
to the Egyptian writer of the M S., the name under
which he worshipped his god was " Sutech " ; and
some critics have supposed that he chose this god out
of the existing Egyptian Pantheon, because he was
the god of the North, where his own dominion espe-
cially lay.^ But Sutech, though undoubtedly he had
a place in the Egyptian Pantheon from very ancient
times,^ seems to have been essentially an Asiatic god,
the special deity of the Hittite nation,^ with which
there is reason to believe that the shepherd kings were
closely connected. Apepi, moved by a monotheistic
impulse, selected Sutech, we should suppose, rather
out of his own gods than out of the Egyptian deities,
and determined that, whatever had been the case pre-
viously, henceforth he would renounce polytheism, and
worship one only lord and god, the god long known
to his nation, and to his own ancestors,^ under the
name above mentioned. There is reason to believe
that he did not identify him with the Egyptian god,
Set, or Sutech, but rather with some form or other of
the Egyptian sun-god, or else with their sun-gods
generally, since he appointed sacrifice to be made to
Sutech, " with all the rites that are performed in the
temple of Ra-Harmachis,"*^ who was one of these

1 See " Records of the Past," vol. viii., p. 3.
^Chabas, " Les Pasteuis en Egypte," p. 35.
" 3 Mariette, " Lettre a M. le Vicomte de Rouge," in the Revue Archeo-
log! que, vol. v., p. 303.

* " Records of the Past," vol. iv., p. 31. ^Ibid., p. 36.

^Ibid., vol. viii., p. 3.

NOTICES IN GENESIS. 187

gods, and required the vassal king of Thebes, Ra-
Sekenen, to neglect the worship of all the other gods
honoured in his part of Egypt, excepting Ammon-
Ra, who was another of them. Sutech, among the
Hittites, seems to have been equivalent to Baal, and
was certainly a sun-god,^ probably identified with the
material sun itself, but viewed as having also a spiritual
nature, and as the creator and sustainer of the universe.
Apepi's great temple of Sutech at Tanis was the
natural outcome of his exclusive worship of this god,
and showed forth in a tangible and conspicuous form
the earnestness of his piety.

Among the changes in manners and customs belong-
ing to the Middle Empire, there is one which cannot
be gainsaid — the introduction of the horse. The
horse, which is wholly absent from the remains,
written or sculptured, of the Old Empire, appears as
well known and constantly employed in the very
earliest records of the New, and must consequently
have made its appearance in the interval. Hence it
has been argued by those best acquainted with the
ancient remains that the military successes of the
Hyksos, and especially their conquest of Egypt, were
probably the result to a considerable extent of their
invading the country with a chariot force and with
cavalry at a time when the Egyptians fought wholly
on foot. Neither horses nor chariots, nor even
carts, were known under the Pharaohs of the Old
Empire; they were employed largely from the very
1 " Records of the Past," vol. iv., p. 28, par. 8.

i88 BAB YL ON AND E G YPT.

beginning of the New Empire, the change having
been effected by the empire which occupied the inter-
vening space.

Before proceeding further, let us consider how these
characteristics suit the Egypt of Joseph. First, then,
the indications of Genesis, though not very precise,
decidedly favour the view that the king is residing in
the Delta. He receives in person the brethren of
Joseph on their arrival in the land, and even has an
interview with the aged Jacob himself (Gen. xlvii. 7-
10), whom his son would certainly not have presented
to him if the court had not been near at hand.
Goshen, the eastern portion of the Delta, is chosen
for the residence of the family, especially because,
dwelling there, they will be " near to Joseph " (ch. xlv.
10), who must have been in constant attendance on
the monarch. " All the servants of Pharaoh, the
elders of his house, and all the elders of the land of
Egypt" (ch. 1. 7) would scarcely have accompanied
the body of Jacob to the cave of Machpelah unless
the court had been residing in Lower Egypt. Bishop
Harold Browne, who writes as a common-sense critic,
and not as an Egyptologist, well observes, "Joseph
placed his brethren naturally on the confines of Egypt
nearest to Palestine, and yet near himself. It is prob-
able that Memphis or Tanis was then the metropolis of
Egyptr^ But both before and after the shepherd
kings the capital for many hundred years was Thebes.

Secondly, there are indications in the later chapters

* "Speaker's Commentary," vol. i., p. 215.

NOTICES IN GENESIS. 189

of Genesis that the Pharaoh of the time was a mono-
theist. Not only does he make no protest against the
pronounced monotheism of Joseph (ch. xh. 16, 25,
32), as Nebuchadnezzar does against that of Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abed-nego, when he draws the con-
clusion from their escape that "no other god can
deliver after this sort;' but he uses himself the most
decidedly monotheistic language when he says to his
nobles, " Can we find such a one as this is — a man in
whom the Spirit of God is ? " (ib. 38), and again when
he addresses Joseph as follows : " Forasmuch as God
hath shozved thee all this, there is none so discreet and
wise as thou art " (ib. 39). No such distinct recogni-
tion of the unity of God is ascribed either to the
Pharaoh of the Old Empire who received Abraham
(ch. xii. 1 5-20), or to those of the New Empire who
came into contact with Moses (Exod. i-xiv.).

The contrast between the Egypt of Abraham's time
and that of the time of Joseph in respect of horses has
often been noticed. As the absence of horses from
the list of the presents made to Abraham (ch. xii. 16)
indicates with sufficient clearness the time of the Old
Empire, so the mention of horses, chariots, and
wagons in connection with Joseph (ch. xii. 43 ; xlvi.
29; xlvii. 17; 1. 9) makes his time either that of the
Middle Empire or of the New. The fact that the
possession of horses does not seem to be as yet very
common points to the Middle Empire as the more
probable of the two.

Certain leading features, moreover, of the narrative,

190

BAB YL ON AND EG YPT.

which have been reckoned among its main difficulties,
either cease to be difficulties at all, or are reduced to
comparative insignificance, if, in accordance with tra-
dition and with the most probable chronology, we
regard Joseph as the minister of a shepherd king.

The native Egyptian monarchs had an extreme jeal-
ousy of their Eastern neighbours. The East was the
quarter from which Egypt lay most open to invasion,
and from the later times of the Old Empire down to
the twentieth dynasty in the New there was continual
fear, when a native dynasty sat upon the throne, lest
immigrants from these parts should by degrees filch
away from Egypt the possession of the Delta. Small
bodies of Asiatics, like those who came with Abraham,
or the thirty-seven Amu under Abusha,* might occa-
sionally be received with favour, to sojourn or to dwell
in the land ; but larger settlements would have been
very distasteful. An early king of the twelfth dynasty
built a wall " to keep off the Sakti," as the Asiatics of
these parts were called,^ and such powerful monarchs
as Seti I. and Rameses 11. followed his example. The
only kings who were friendly to the Asiatics, and likely
to receive a large body of settlers with favour, were
the Hyksos, Asiatics themselves, whom every such
settlement strengthened against the revolt, which
always threatened, of their Egyptian subjects. Now
the family and dependants of Jacob were a large body
of settlers. Abraham had three hundred and eighteen

^Biugsch, "History of Egypt," vol. i., p. 157.
''■ " Records of the Past," vol. vi., p. 135.

NOTICES IN GENESIS. 191

adult male servants born in his house (Gen. xiv. 14).
Jacob's attendants, when he returned from serving
Laban, formed '* two bands" (Gen. xxxii. 10), literally
"two armies." The number of those who entered
Egypt with Jacob has been reasonably calculated at
" several thousands." ^ To place such a body of
foreigners " in the best of the land " (ch. xlvii. 6, 11),
on the eastern frontier, where they could readily give
admission to others, is what no king of either the Old
or the New Empire would have been likely to have
done ; but it is exactly what might have been expected
of one of the Hyksos.

Again, the sudden elevation of a foreigner from the
slave condition to the second place in the kingdom,
the putting him above all the Egyptians and making
them bow down to him (ch. xli. 43), and the giving
him in marriage the daughter of the high-priest of
Heliopolis (ib. 45), though perhaps within the pre-
rogative of any Egyptian king, who, as a god upon
earth, — " son of the Sun," — could do no wrong, are
yet exceedingly unlikely things, if Egypt were in its
normal condition. It is far from paralleled by the
"story of Saneha," even if that story is a true one,
and not a novelette; for Saneha's rise is very gradual;
he is a courtier in his youth; he commits an offence,
and flies to a foreign land, where he passes the greater
part of his life ; it is not until he is an old man that
his pardon reaches him, and he returns, and is restored
to favour ; nor does he rise even then to a rank at all
1 Kurtz, " History of the Old Covenant," vo]. ii., p. 149, E. T.

192

BAB YL ON AND EG YPT.

equal to that of Joseph.^ Joseph's history would have
been " incredible " if Egypt had never had foreign
rulers.^ But a Hyksos monarch would be trammelled
by none of the feelings or restraints natural to an
Egyptian. A foreigner himself, he would be glad to
advance a foreigner, would not be very careful of
offending a high-priest, and would feel more confidence
in committing important affairs to a stranger wholly,
dependent upon himself than to a native who might
at any time turn traitor.

Our limits will not allow us to treat this point at
greater length. It is necessary, however, before con-
cluding this chapter, to notice briefly two objections
which Genesis is supposed to offer to the traditional
view of Joseph's place in Egyptian history. The first
is the designation of Goshen in one passage (ch. xlvii.
ii) as "the land of Rameses." Now Rameses is a
name which first appears in Egypt under the New
Empire, and a " land of Rameses " is not likely to
have existed until there had been a monarch of the
name, which first happened under the nineteenth
dynasty. But it is quite possible, as Bishop Harold
Browne suggests, that the writer of Genesis may have
used the phrase, " land of Rameses," by anticipation,^
to designate the tract so called in his day. This
would be merely as if a modern writer were to say
that the Romans under Julius Caesar invaded England,

* " Records of the Past," vol. vi., pp. 135-150.

2 Stuart Poole in Smith's " Diet, of the Bible," vol, i., p. 509.

*" Speaker's Commentary," vol. i., p. 221. .

NOTICES IN GENESIS. 193

or that Pontius Pilate, when recalled from Judaea, was
banished to France.

The other objection is drawn from the statement
that in Joseph's time " every shepherd was an abomi-
nation to the Egyptians " (ch. xlvi. 34). This is said
to be "quite conclusive" against the view that the
Pharaoh of Joseph was a shepherd king.^ But it is
admitted that the prejudice was anterior to the invasion
of the Hyksos, and appears on the monuments of the
Old Empire. It would certainly not have been
lessened by the Hyksos conquest, nor can the shep-
herd kings be supposed to have been ignorant of it.
If it was a caste prejudice, it would have been quite
beyond their power to put down ; and nothing would
have been left for them but to bear with it, and make
the best of it. This is what they seem to have done.
When men of the nomadic races were feasted at the
Hyksos court, they were feasted separately from the
Egyptians (ch. xliii. 32) ; and when a nomad tribe had
to be located on Egyptian territory, it was placed in a
position which brought it as little as possible into con-
tact with the natives. Pharaoh had already put his
own herdsmen in Goshen (ch. xlvii. 6), with the view
of isolating them. In planting the Israelite settlers
there, he did but follow the same principle. Like a
wise ruler, he arranged to keep apart those diverse
elements in the population of his country which were
sure not to amalgamate.

*" Speaker's Commentary," vol. i., p. 449, note t^t^.

CHAPTER XV.

THE NOTICES OF EGYPT IN EXODUS.

" Now there arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not
Joseph. And he said unto his people, Behold, the people of the
children of Israel are more and mightier than we ; come on, let us deal
wisely with them, lest they multiply, and it come to pass that, when there
falleth out any war, they join also unto our enemies, and fight against
us, and so get them up out of the land. Therefore they did set over
them taskmasters, to afflict them with their burdens. And they built
for Pharaoh treasure-cities, Pithom and Raamses." — ExoD. i. 8-19.

The question of the period of Egyptian history into

which the severe oppression of the IsraeHtes, and their

"exodus" from Egypt, are to be regarded as faUing, is

one of no Httle interest, and at the same time of no

Httle difficulty. In the last chapter we saw reason for

accepting the view that the Pharaoh whom Joseph

served was Apepi, the last king of the seventeenth

(shepherd) dynasty. In order, however, to obtain

from this fact any guidance as to the dynasty, and still

more as to the kings, under whom the events took

place which are related in the first section of the Book

of Exodus (chs. i.-xiv.), we have to determine, first of

all, what was the length of the Egyptian sojourn. But

here we find ourselves in the jaws of a great contro-
194

NOTICES IN EXODUS. 195

versy. Taking the Authorised Version as our sole
guide, we should indeed think the matter plain
enough, for there we are told (ch. xii. 40, 41), that
" the sojourning of the children of Israel, who dwelt
in Egypt, was /<??/r hundred and thirty years; and it
came to pass at the end of the four Jiundred and thirty
years, even the selfsame day it came to pass, that all
the hosts of the Lord went out from the land of
Egypt." If we consult the Hebrew original, the plain-
ness and certainty seems increased, for there we find
that the words run thus : — " The sojourning of the
children of Israel, zuhieh they sojourned in Egypt, was
four hundred and thirty years,'' which seems to leave
no loophole of escape from the conclusion that the
four hundred and thirty years mentioned are those of
Israel's stay in Egypt. And it is quite admitted that
thus far — if this were all the evidence — there could be
no controversy upon the subject. Doubt arises from
the fact that in the two most ancient versions of Exodus
that we possess the passage runs differently. We read
in the Septuagint, " The sojourning of the children of
Israel, which they sojourned in Egypt and in the land
of Canaan, was four hundred and thirty years;" and
in the Samaritan version, " The sojourning of the
children of Israel a?id of their fatJiers, which they
sojourned in the land of Canaaji and in Egypt, was
four hundred and thirty years." Nor is this the whole.
St. Paul, it is observed, writing to the Galatians (ch. iii.
17), makes the giving of the law from Mount Sinai
" four hundred and thirty years after," not the going

196 BAB YL ON AND EGYPT.

down into Egypt, but the entering into covenant with
Abraham. And it is further argued that the genealo-
gies for the time of the stay in Egypt are incompatible
with the long period of four hundred and thirty years,
and require the cutting down of the time to the
dimensions implied by the Septuagint and Samaritan
translations. This time is two hundred and fifteen
years, or exactly half the other, since it was two
hundred and fifteen years fi-om the promise made to
Abraham until the entering of the Israelites into
Egypt.

Now, if the Exodus was but two hundred and
fifteen years after any date in the reign of Apepi, it
must have fallen within the period assigned by Mane-
tho and the monuments to the eighteenth dynasty.
But if we are to substitute four hundred and thirty
years for two hundred and fifteen, it must have
belonged rather to the later part of the nineteenth.
Let us consider, therefore, whether on the whole the
weight of argument is in favour of the shorter or the
longer term of years.

First, then, with regard to the versions. The
Hebrew text must always be considered of paramount
authority, unless there is reason to suspect that it has
been tampered with. But, in this case, there is no
such reason. Had the clause inserted by the LXX.
existed in the Hebrew original, there is no assignable
ground on which we can imagine it left out. There
is, on the other hand, a readily conceivable ground for
the insertion of the clause by the LXX. in their

NOTICES IN EXODUS.

[97

anxiety to harmonise their chronology with the
Egyptian system prevalent in their day. Further, the
clause has the appearance of an insertion, being irrele-
vant to the narrative, which is naturally concerned at
this point with Egypt, and with Egypt only. The
Samaritan version may appear at first sight to lend the
Septuagint confirmation ; but a little examination shows
the contrary. The Samaritan translator has the Sep-
tuagint before him, but is dissatisfied with the way in
which his Greek predecessor has amended the Hebrew
text. His version is an amendment of the Greek text
in two points. First, he sees that the name " children
of Is7'ael'' could not properly be given to any but the
descendants of Jacob, and therefore he inserts the
clause " and of their fathers." Secondly, he observes
that the LXX. have inverted the historical order of
the sojourns in Egypt and in Canaan, placing that
in Egypt first. This he corrects by a transposition.
No one can suppose that he derived his emendations
from the Hebrew. He evolved them from his inner
consciousness. He gave his readers, not what Moses
had said, but what, in his opinion, he ought to
have said.

Secondly, with respect to St. Paul's statement to the
Galatians, it is to be borne in mind that he wrote to
Greek-speaking Jews, whose only Bible was the Sep-
tuagint Version, and that he could not but follow it
unless he was prepared to intrude on them a chrono-
logical discussion, which would in no way have
advanced his argument. His argument is that the

198 BAB YL ON AND E G YP T.

law, having been given long after the covenant made
with Abraham, could not disannul it; how long after
was of no consequence, whether four hundred and
thirty or six hundred and forty-five years.

Thirdly, the genealogies of the period, as given in
the Pentateuch, contain undoubtedly no more than six
names — in fact,' vary between four and six — which
taken by itself, is doubtless an argument for the
shorter period. But {a) the Jews constantly abbrevi-
ated genealogies by the omission of a portion of the
names (Ezra vii. 1-5; Matt.i. 2-16; comp. i Chron.
ix. 4-19 with Neh. xi. 4-22); and (J?) there is one
genealogy belonging to the period, given in i Chron.
vii. 22-27, that of Joshua, which contains ten names.
The Hebrews, at this portion of their history, and
indeed to a considerably later date, reckoned a gene-
ration at forty years, so that the ten generations from
Jacob to Joshua, who was fully grown up at the time
of the Exodus (Exod. xvii. 9-13), would cover four
hundred years, or not improbably a little more.

Another argument in favour of the longer date is
derivable from the terms of the announcement made
to Abraham with respect to the Egyptian servitude: —
" Know of a surety, that thy seed shall be a stranger
in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them, and
they shall afflict them four hundred years ; and also
that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge; and
afterward shall they come out with great substance "
(Gen. XV. 13, 14). In this prophecy but one land is
spoken of, and but one people ; this people is to afflict

NO TICES IN EXOD US. 1 99

Israel for four hundred years ; it is then to be judged;
and, after the judgment, Israel is to ''come out," to
come out, moreover, with great substance. Nothing
is said that can by any possibility allude to the
Canaanites, or the land of Canaan. One continuous
affliction in one country, and by one people, lasting —
in round numbers — four hundred years, is announced
with the utmost plainness.

But the crowning argument of all, which ought to
be regarded as completely settling the question, is that
derivable from the numbers of the Israelites on enter-
ing and on quitting Egypt. Their numbers, indeed,
on entering, cannot be definitely fixed, since they went
down to Egypt " with their households " (Exod. i. i),
and these, to judge by that of Abraham (Gen. xiv. 14),
were very numerous. Still no writer has supposed
that altogether the settlers exceeded more than a few
— say two or three — thousands.^ On quitting Egypt,
they were, at the lowest estimate, two millions. What
time, then, is required, under favourable circumstances,
for the expansion of a body (say) of two thousand
persons into one a thousand times that number ?

There are writers who have argued that population
may double itself in the space of fifteen, nay, in that
of thirteen years.^ But I know of no proved instance
of the kind where there has not been a large influx

1 Kurtz ("History of the Old Covenant," vol. ii., p. 149) uses the
vague expression, "several thousands." Dean Payne Smith, in his
" Bampton Lectures" (p. 89), suggests three thousand.

2 Clinton, "Fasti Hellenici," vol. i., p. 294.

200 BAB YL ON AND EGYPT.

through immigration. No increase, or, at any rate, no
important increase, of the Israelites in Egypt can be
assigned to this cause. They multiplied, as is dis-
tinctly implied in the narrative, in the ordinary way,
without foreign accretion. It is reasonable, therefore,
to apply to them Mr. Malthus's law for the natural
increase of population by descent under favourable
circumstances. Now this is a doubling of the popula-
tion, not every thirteen, or every fifteen, but every
twenty-five years.^ By this law two thousand persons
would, in two hundred and fifteen years, have multi-
plied to the extent, not of two millions, but of less
than one million. The law, moreover, only acts where
population is scanty, where the sanitary circumstances
are favourable, and where the means of subsistence
are wholesome, and readily obtained. Long before
the time that the Israelites reached a quarter of a
million, most of the artificial checks which tend to
keep down the natural increase of population would
have begun to operate among them. The territory
assigned them was not a very large one, and they were
not its sole inhabitants (Gen. xlvii. 6 ; Exod. iii. 22,
xii. 31-36). It would soon be pretty densely peopled.
The tasks in which they were employed by their
Egyptian lords, from the time that the severe oppres-
sion began (Exod. i. 13, 14), could not be favourable
to health. They were no doubt sufficiently well fed,
as slaves usually are, but not on a very wholesome

^ " Essay on Population," vol. i., p 8 ; " Encyclopoedia Britannica,"
vol. xviii., p. 340.

NOTICES IN EXODUS.

dietary (Num. xi. 5). The rate of increase would
naturally fall under these circumstances, and it may
ere long have taken them fifty years to double their
numbers, which is about the rate now existing among
ourselves. Supposing them to have been two thousand
at the first, and to have doubled their numbers at the
end of the first twenty-five years, but to have required
five years longer for each successive duplication until
the full term of fifty years was reached, it would have
taken them four hundred and twenty-five years to
reach the amount of two millions.

Altogether it is perfectly clear that an increase
which is abnormal, and requires some explanation, if
it be regarded as occupying the space of four hundred
and thirty years, must be most unlikely, if not impos-
sible, to have occurred in half that time.

If then we take four hundred and thirty years from
the early part of Apepi's reign, and follow the line of
the Egyptian kings, as we find it in Manetho, or in the
monuments, we are carried on beyond the time of the
eighteenth dynasty into that of the nineteenth, and
have to look for the monarchs mentioned in Exodus
among those who reigned in Egypt between the close
of the eighteenth dynasty and the commencement of
the twentieth.

Before proceeding, however, with this inquiry, it
seems natural to ask, Is there no tradition with respect
to the time of the Exodus in Egyptian history, as we
found that there was with respect to the time of
Joseph ; and if there is any such tradition, what is it ?

202 BABYLON AND EG YP T.

The Egyptian tradition was delivered at great length
by Manetho, whose account is preserved to us in
Josephus.^ It was also reported more briefly by
Chaeremon.^ It placed the Exodus in the reign of an
" Amenophis," who was the son of a " Rameses," and
the father of a " Sethos." Each of these two facts
belong to one "Amenophis" only out of the four or
five in Manetho's lists, and we have thus a double
certainty that he intended the monarch of the nine-
teenth dynasty, who was the son and successor of
Rameses II., commonly called " Rameses the Great,"
and was himself succeeded on the throne by his son,
Seti-Menephthah, or Seti II., about B.C. 1300, or a
little earlier. There is no other Egyptian tradition,
excepting one reported by George the Syncellus,^
which is wholly incompatible with the universally
allowed synchronism of Joseph with Apepi, and quite
unworthy of consideration ; viz., that the Exodus took
place under Amasis (Aahmes), the first king of the
eighteenth dynasty, who was probably contemporary
with the later years of Joseph himself

Manetho's tradition then, harmonising, as it does,
with the chronological considerations above adduced,
which would place the Exodus towards the end of the
nineteenth dynasty, seems to deserve our acceptance,
and indeed has been accepted by the great bulk of
modern Egyptologists, as by Brugsch, Birch, Lenor-

' Joseph., " Conti-a Apion.," i. ^ 26.

2 Ibid., ^32.

* " Chronographia," p. 62, B.

NOTICES IN EXODUS. 203

mant, Chabas, and others.^ Allowing it, we are able
to fix definitely on the three Pharaohs especially-
concerned in the severe oppression of the Israelites,
and thus to give a vividness and realism to our
conception of the period of history treated of in
Exod. i.-xiv. which add greatly to the interest of the
narrative.

If Menephthah L, the son and successor of Rameses
II., was the Pharaoh of the Exodus, it follows neces-
sarily that his father, the great Rameses, was the king
of Exod. ii., from whom Moses fled, and after whose
death he was directed to quit Midian and return into
Egypt for the purpose of delivering his brethren (ch.
ii. 23 ; iv. 19). But as Moses was eighty years old at
this time (ch. vii. 7), it is evident that the Pharaoh
from whom he fled cannot be the same with the one
who, more than eighty years previously, gave the
order for the destruction of the Hebrew male children
(ch. i. 22). The narrative of Exodus must speak of
three Pharaohs, of the first in ch. i., of the second in
ch. ii., and of the third in chs. v.-xiv. If the second
of these is Rameses II., the father of Menephthah L,
the first must be Seti I., the father of Rameses II.

Now, it happens that Seti I. and Rameses 1 1, are
among the most distinguished of all the Egyptian
monarchs, great warriors, great builders, setters-up of

I See Brugsch, " History of Egypt," vol. ii., p. 125 ; Birch, " Egypt
from the Earliest Times," p. 133; Lenoniiant, "Manuel d'Histoire
Ancienne de I'Orient," vol. ii., p. 292, edition of 1882; Chabas, " Re-
cherches pour servir a I'histoire de la Xix^e Dynastie," p. 157.

204 ^AB YL ON AND EGYPT.

numerous inscriptions. We know them almost better
than any other Egyptian kings, are famihar with their
very countenances, have ample means of forming an
estimate of their characters from their own words.
Seti I. may well be the " new king, which knew not
Joseph." He was the second king of a new dynasty,
unconnected with either of the dynasties with which
Joseph had been contemporary. He came to the
throne at the time when a new danger to Egypt had
sprung up on the north-eastern frontier, and when
consequently it was natural that fear should be felt
by the Egyptian ruler lest, " when any war fell out,
the people of Israel should join unto Egypt's enemies,
and fight against the Egyptians, and so get them up
out of the land" (ver. lo). The Hittites had become
masters of Syria, and were dominant over the whole
region from Mount Taurus to Philistia. " Scarcely
was Seti settled upon the throne, when he found
himself menaced on the north-east by a formidable
combination of Semitic with Turanian races, which
boded ill for the tranquillity of his kingdom."^ He
was occupied in a war with them for some years. At
its close he engaged in the construction, or reparation,
of a great wall for the defence of the eastern frontier.
It would be natural that, in connection with this wall,
and as a part of his general system for the protection
of the frontier, he should build "treasure-cities" (ver.
ii), or more properly "store-cities," i.e., arsenals and
magazines. That he should name one of these after

* Rawlinson, " History of Ancient Egypt," vol. ii., p. 287.

NOTICES IN EXODUS. 205

a god whom he was in the habit of honouring/ and
the other after his father, or after his son, whom he
early associated, is not surprising. The ardour for
building which characterised him would account for
his employing the Israelites so largely " in mortar,
and in brick " (ver. 14), and in the construction of
edifices. The severity of his oppression is quite in
accordance with the cruelty which he exhibited in
his wars, and of which he boasts in his inscriptions.^

Rameses II. was associated on the throne by his
father when he was ten or eleven years of age. The
two kings then reigned conjointly for about twenty
years. Rameses outlived his father forty-seven years,
and probably had the real direction of the government
for about sixty years. There is no other reign in the
New Empire which reaches nearly to the length of
his. He was less of a warrior than his father, and
more of a builder. Among his principal works was
the completion of the city of Rameses (Pi-Ramesu),
begun by his father, and made by Rameses the resi-
dence of the court, and one of the chief cities of the
empire. He appears also to have completed Pithom
(Pi-Tum), and to have entirely built many other
important towns. All his works were raised by
means of forced labour ; and for the purpose of their
construction he required an enormous mass of human
material, which had to be constantly employed under
taskmasters in the most severe and exhausting toil,

^ Birch, " Egypt from the Earliest Times," p. 119.
2" History of Ancient Egypt," vol, ii., pp. 288-291.

2o6 BAB YL ON AND EG YPT.

under a burning sun, and with few sanitary precau-
tions. M. Lenormant says of him and his " great
works''^: — " Ce n'est qu'avec un veritable sentiment
d'horreur que Ton pent songer aux milliers de captifs
qui durent mourir sous le baton des gardes-chiourmes,
ou bien victimes des fatigues excessives et des priva-
tions de toute nature, en elevant en qualite de for9ats
les gigantesques constructions auxquelles se plaisait
I'insatiable orgueil du monarque egyptien. Dans les
monuments du regne de Ramses il n'y a pas une
pierre, pour ainsi dire, qui n'ait coiate une vie
humaine." Such was the character of the monarch
under whom the Israelites are said to have " sighed
by reason of their bondage," and to have " cried "
so that " their cry came up to God by reason of their
bondage; and God heard their groaning, and God
remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac,
and with Jacob ; and God looked upon the children
of Israel, and God had respect unto them " (Exod. ii.

23-25)-

Besides his suitability in character to be the Pharaoh
who continued the severe oppression begun by Seti I.,
Rameses IL, by the great length of his reign, exactly
fits into the requirements of the Biblical narrative.
That narrative requires for its second Pharaoh a king
Avho reigned at least forty years, probably longer.
The New Empire furnishes only three reigns of the
necessary duration, — those of Thothmes III. (fifty-four
years), Rameses IL (sixty-seven years), and Psamme-

1" Manuel d'Histoire Ancienne," vol. i. 423.

NO TICES IN EXOD US. 207

tichus I. (fifty-four years). Psammetichus, who reigned
from B.C. 66j to 613, is greatly too late; Thothmes
III. is very much too early ; Rameses 11. alone verges
upon the time at which the severe oppression must
necessarily be placed. It can scarcely be a coinci-
dence that Egyptian tradition should point out Men-
ephthah I. as the Pharaoh of the Exodus, and that,
the Biblical narrative assigning to his predecessor an
exceptionally long reign, the monuments and Manetho
should agree in giving to that predecessor the excep-
tionally long reign of sixty-six or sixty-seven years.

CHAPTER XVI.

FURTHER NOTICES OF EGYPT IN EXODUS.

The portraits of the first and second Pharaohs men-
tioned in the Book of Exodus are only faintly and
slightly sketched. That of the third monarch — " the
Pharaoh of the Exodus," as he is commonly termed
— is, on the contrary, presented to us with much clear-
ness and distinctness, though without effort or con-
scious elaboration. He is an oppressor as merciless
as either of his predecessors, as deaf to pity, as deter-
mined to crush the aspirations of the Hebrews by hard
labour. To him belongs the ingenious device for
aggravating suffering, which has passed into the pro-
verbial phraseology of modern Europe, the require-
ment of ''bricks without straw" (ch. v. 7-19). He
disregards the afflictions of his own countrymen as
completely as those of his foreign slaves, and continues
fixed in his determination not to " let Israel go," until
he suffers the loss of his own first-born (ch. xii. 29-
32). When finally he has been induced to allow the
Hebrews to withdraw themselves from his land, he
suddenly repents of his concession, pursues after them,

and seeks, not so much to prevent their escape, as to
208

NOTICES IN EXODUS. 209

destroy them to the last man (ch. xv. 9). To this
harshness and cruelty of temper he adds a remarkable
weakness and vacillation — he will and he will not ; he
makes promises and retracts them ; he " thrusts the
Israelites out" (ch. xi. i; xii. 31), and then rushes
after them at the head of all the troops that he can
muster (ch. xiv. 5-9). Further — and this is most
remarkable — unlike the generality of Egyptian mon-
archs, he seems to be deficient in personal courage ;
at any rate, there is no appearance of his having
imperilled himself in the attack made on the Israelites
at the Red Sea, — " the Egyptians pursued, and went
in after them to the midst of the sea, even all Pharaoh's
horses, his chariots, and his horsemen" (ch. xiv. 23);
but not, so far as appears, Pharaoh himself This,
indeed, has been disputed, and Ps. cxxxvi. 15 has been
quoted as a positive proof to the contrary ; ^ but the
expression of a poet who wrote some centuries after
the event would be very weak evidence with respect
to the fact, besides which his statement is, not that the
Pharaoh was killed, but that he was " overthrown."
Neither the narrative in Exod. xiv. nor the song of
rejoicing in the following chapter contains the slightest
allusion to the Pharaoh's death, an omission almost
inconceivable if he really perished with his warriors.^
Further, the Pharaoh of the Exodus seems to have

1 Canon Cook in the "Speaker's Commentary," vol. i., p. 309.

2 That the Pharaoh did not perish is maintained by Wilkinson
(" Ancient Egyptians," vol. i., p. 54), Chabas (" Recherches pour servir
a I'histoire de I'Egypte," pp. 152, l6i), Lenormant ("Manuel d'Histoire
Ancienne," vol. ii., p. 292, edition of 1883), and others.

14

2IO BAB YL ON AND E G YPT.

been grossly and abnormally superstitious, one who
put real trust in magicians and sorcerers, and turned
to them in times of difficulty rather than to statesmen
and persons of experience in affairs.

What, then, does profane history tell us of the
Menephthah whom we have shown to be at once the
traditional " Pharaoh of the Exodus " and the king
pointed out by chronological considerations as the
ruler of Egypt at the period ? M. Lenormant begins
his account of him by observing,^ " Moreover, he was
neither a soldier nor an administrator, but one whose
mind was turned almost exclusively towards the
chimeras of sorcery and magic, resembling in this
respect his brother, Kha-m-uas." '' The Book of
Exodus," he adds, " is in the most exact agreement
with historical truth when it depicts him as sur-
rounded by priest-magicians, with whom Moses
contends in working prodigies, in order to affect the
mind of the Pharaoh."^

Later on in his history of Menephthah, M. Lenor-
mant has the following passage.^ He is describing
the great invasion of Libyans and others which
Menephthah repulsed in his fifth year. " The bar-
barians advanced without meeting any serious resist-
ance. The terrified population either fled before them,
or made its submission, but attempted nothing like a
struggle. Already had the invading army reached

1" Manuel d'Histoire Ancienne," vol. ii., p. 281 (edition of 1883).

2 Ibid.

3 Ibid., p. 289. Compare " Records of the Past," vol. iv., pp. 41-44'

NO TICES IN EXOD US. 2 1 1

the neighbourhood of Pa-ari-sheps, the Prosopis of
the Greeks ; On (HeliopoHs) and Man-nofri (Memphis)
were seriously threatened. Menephthah assembled
his army in front of these two towns, in order to cover
them; he drew from Asia a number of mercenaries,
to supply the lack of Egyptian soldiers of sufficient
experience ; at the same time he fortified the banks of
the middle branch of the Nile, to prevent the enemy
from crossing it, and to place in safety, at any rate,
the eastern half of the Delta. Sending forward in
advance, first of all, his chariot-force and his light-
armed auxiliaries, the Pharaoh promised to join the
battle array with the bulk of his troops at the end of
fourteen days. But he zvas not personally fond of
actual fight, and disliked exposing himself to the chance
of defeat. An apparition of the god Phthah, which
he saw in a dream, warned him that his lofty rank
required him not to cross the river. He therefore sent
his army to the combat under the command of some
of his father's generals, who were still living." Two
features of Menephthah's character, as represented in
Scripture, are here illustrated : his want of personal
courage and his habit of departing from his promises
with or without a pretext. The apparition of the
god Phthah in a dream is clearly a convenient fiction,
by means of which he might at once conceal his
cowardice and excuse the forfeiture of his word.

The Egyptian monuments thus confirm three
leading features in the character of Menephthah, — his
superstitiousness, his want of courage, and his weak,

212 BAB YL ON AND E G YFT.

shifty, false temper. They do not, however, furnish
much indication of his cruelty. This is, perhaps,
sufficiently accounted for by their scantiness. Men-
ephthah is a king of whom it has been said ^ that he
"belongs to the number of those monarchs whose
memory has been with difficulty preserved by a few
monuments of inferior value, and a few inscriptions of
but little importance." We have, in fact, but one
inscription of any considerable length belonging to
his reign.^ It gives mainly an account of the Libyan
war, in which he was not personally engaged. A tone
of pride and arrogance common to the autobiographi-
cal memoirs of Egyptian kings pervades it, but it
contains few notices of any severities for which the
monarch himself can be regarded as responsible.
That he made slaves of the prisoners taken in the
Libyan war^ merely shows that he acted like other
monarchs of the time. He speaks, however, of
having in a Cushite war " slaughtered the people, and
set fire to them, and netted, as men net birds, the
entire country."* This last expression reminds one
of a cruel Persian practice, whereby whole popu-
lations were exterminated, or reduced to slavery;^ the
preceding one, if it is to be taken literally, implies a
still more extreme and more unusual barbarity.

* Brugsch, " Histoire d'Egypte," p. 175.

2 This inscription will be found translated in " Records of the Past,"
vol. iv., pp. 39-48, and in M. Chabas' ** Recherches pour servir a
I'histoire de I'Egypte," pp. 84-94.

3 " Records of the Past," vol. iv,, p. 47, 1. 63.

* Ibid., 1. 67. o Herod, iii. 149; vi. 31.

NO TICES IN EX on US. 2 1 3

It was not to be expected that the general series of
events related in the first fourteen chapters of Exodus
should obtain any direct mention in the historical
records of Egypt. As M. Chabas remarks/ '* events
of this kind were not entitled to be inscribed on the
public monuments, where nothing was ever registered
except successes and triumphs." The court historio-
graphers would naturally refrain from all mention of
the terrible plagues from which Egypt suffered during
a whole year, as well as from any record of the disaster
of the Red Sea ; and the monarch would certainly not
inscribe any account of them upon his edifices. Still
there are points of the narrative which admit of com-
parison with the records of the time, and in which an
agreement or disagreement with those records would
almost of necessity show itself; and these it is pro-
posed to consider in the remainder of this chapter.
Such are (i) the employment of forced labour in
Egypt at this period of its history, and the method of
its employment ; (2) the inclusion, or non-inclusion,
of the Hebrews among the forced labourers ; (3) the
construction at the period of " store-cities," and the
names of the cities ; (4) the military organization of
the time ; (5) the untimely loss of a son by the king
under whom the Exodus took place ; and (6) the
existence or non-existence of any indication in the
records of such exhaustion and weakness as might be
expected to follow the events related in Exodus.

The use of forced labour by the Egyptian monarchs

^ " Recherches," etc., p. 152.

214

BA B YL ON A ND EGYPT.

of the time, especially by Seti I. and Rameses II., is
abundantly witnessed to by the monuments. The
kings speak of it as a matter of course ; the poets
deplore it; the artists represent it. "It was the custom
of the Egyptians to subject prisoners of war to this
Hfe of forced labour. A tomb of the time of Thothmes
III. has furnished pictures which represent Asiatic
captives making bricks, and working at buildings under
the rod of task-masters — pictures which are a figured
commentary on the verses of Exodus (ch. i. 11-14)
which we have just cited. But under Rameses II. the
unprecedented development of architectural works
rendered the fatigues to which such wretches were
exposed far more overwhelming." ^ Gangs of labourers
were placed under the charge of an overseer armed with
a stick, which he applied freely to their naked backs
and shoulders on the slightest provocation. A certain
definite amount of task-work was required every day
of each labourer. Some worked at brick-making,
some at stone-cutting, some at dragging blocks from
the quarries, some at erecting edifices. Food was
provided by the Government, and appears not to have
been insufficient ; but the hard work, and the exposure
to the burning sun of Egypt, were exhausting in the
extreme, and rendered their life a burden to those
condemned to pass it in this sort of employ.

Whether the monuments indicate, or do not indi-
cate, the inclusion of the Hebrews among the forced

^ Lenormant, "Manuel d'Histoire Ancienne," vol. ii., p. 269, edition
of 1883.

NO TICES IN EXOD US. 2 1 5

labourers of this period depends on our acceptance or
non-acceptance of a suggested identification.^ Are
we, or are we not, to regard the Hebrews as the same
people with the Aperu or Apuriu ? In favour of the
identification, there is, in the first place, the close
resemblance of the words. M. Chabas, indeed, over-
states the case when he says^ that the Egyptian
Aperu is ''the exact transcription of the Hebrew n^j;."
It is not so really, since the exact transcription would
be " Aberu " ; but it is a very near approach to an
exact transcription. It falls short of exactness merely
by the substitution of a / for a b, the two letters being
closely cognate, and the ear of the Egyptians for
foreign sounds not very accurate. In the next place,
it is found that Rameses II. employs the Aperu in the
building of his city of Rameses (Pa-Ramesu), which
is exactly one of the works ascribed to the Hebrews
in Exodus (ch. i. 11). Further, we must either accept
the identity of the Hebrews with the Aperu, or we must
suppose that the kings of this period had in their
service at this time two sets of forced labourers quite
unconnected, yet with names almost exactly alike.
Against the identification, almost the sole point that
can be urged, is the fact that Aperu are found still to
be employed by the Egyptian kings after the Exodus
is a thing of the past, as by Rameses III. and Rameses

^ On this identification, see Chabas, " Recherches pour servir i I'his-
toire de lEgypte," pp. 142-150-, "Melanges Eg>^ptologiques," 2™^
Serie, p. 108, et seq.

2 " Recherches," p. 142.

2i6 BAB YL ON AND EG YPT.

IV. But this objection seems to be sufficiently met
by M. Chabas. " It is quite certain that, spread as the
text of Scripture declares that they were over the
whole of Egypt, the Hebrews could not by any possi-
bility respond universally to the appeal of Moses ;
perhaps some of them did not even wish to do so.
Such was doubtless the case with those [Aperu] whom
we find enrolled in regiments in the reigns of Rameses
III. and Rameses IV." ^

The construction of " store-cities " at the required
period has received recent illustration of the most
remarkable kind. The explorers employed by the
" Egypt Exploration Fund " have uncovered at Tel-el-
Maskoutah, near Tel-el-Kebir, an ancient city, which
the inscriptions found on the spot show to have been
built, in part at any rate, by Rameses II., and which is
of so peculiar a construction as to suggest at once to
those engaged in the work the idea that it was built
for a " store-city." ^ The town is altogether a square,
enclosed by a brick wall twenty-two feet thick, and
measuring six hundred and fifty feet along each side.
The area contained within the wall is estimated at
about ten acres. Nearly the whole of this space is
occupied by solidly built square chambers, divided
one from the other by brick walls from eight to ten
feet thick, which are unpierced by window or door, or

' " Recherches," p. 163.
• ''■ See an article in the British Quarterly Revini) for July, 1883, pp.
IIO-I15 ; and compare the letters on the same subject in the Academy
for February 24th, March 3d and 17th, and April 7th of the same
year.

NO TICES IN EXOD US. 217

opening of any kind. About ten feet from the bottom
the walls show a row of recesses for beams, in some
of which decayed wood still remains, indicating that
the buildings were two-storied, having a lower room,
which could only be entered by means of a trap-door,
used probably as a storehouse or magazine, and an
upper one, in which the keeper of the store may have
had his abode. Thus far the discovery is simply that
of a " store-city," built partly by Rameses II. ; but it
further appears, from several short inscriptions, that
the name of the city was Pa-Tum, or Pithom; and
there is thus no reasonable doubt that one of the two
cities built by the Israelites has been laid bare, and
answers completely to the description given of it.
Of the twin city, Rameses, the remains have not yet
been identified. We know, however, from the inscrip-
tions, that it was in the immediate vicinity of Tanis,
and that it was built perhaps in part by Seti I., but
mainly by his son Rameses II.

It lends additional interest to the discovery of
Pithom that the city is found to be built almost
entirely of brick. It was in brick-making that the
Israelites are said in the Book of Exodus (ch. i. 14;
V. 7-19) to have been principally employed. They are
also said to have been occupied to some extent " in
mortar" (ch. i. 14); and the bricks of the store-
chambers of Pithom are " laid with mortar in regular
tiers." ^ They made their bricks " with straw " until
no straw was given them, when they were reduced to

1 British Qitarterly Review, July 1883, p. no.

2 1 8 BAB YL ON AND EGYPT.

straits (ch. v. 7-19)- It is in accordance with this
part of the narrative, and sheds some additional Hght
upon it, to find that the bricks of the Pithom
chambers, while generally containing a certain amount
of straw, are in some instances destitute of it. The
king's cruelty forced the Israelites to produce in some
cases an inferior article.

The military organization of the Egyptians at the
time of the Exodus is represented as very complete.
The king is able, almost at a moment's warning, to
take the field with a force of six hundred picked
chariots, and numerous others of a more ordinary
description, together with a considerable body of foot-
men. It does not appear that he has any cavalry, for
the word translated *' horsemen " in our version
probably designates the riders in the chariots. Each
squadron of thirty chariots is apparently under the
command of a ** captain " (eh. xiv. 7). The entire
force, large as it is, is ready to take the field in a
few days, for otherwise the Israelites would have
got beyond the Egyptian border before the Pharaoh
could have overtaken them. It acts promptly and
bravely, and only suffers disaster through circum-
stances of an abnormal and indeed miraculous
character. Now, it appears by the Egyptian monu-
ments that the military system was brought to its
highest perfection by Seti I. and Rameses II. It is
certain that, in their time, the army was most carefully
organized, divided into brigades,^ and maintained in a
^ " Records of the Post," vol, ii., p. 68.

NO TICES IN EXOD US. 219

State of constant preparation. The chariot force was
regarded as of very much the highest importance, and
amounted, according to the lowest computation, to
several thousands. It is doubtful whether any cavalry
was employed, none appearing on the monuments,
and the word so translated by many writers^ being
regarded by others as the proper designation of the
troops who fought in chariots.^ Infantry, however, in
large well-disciplined bodies, always attended and
supported the chariot force. Under Menephthah the
system of his father and grandfather was still main-
tained, though no longer in full vigour. He required
a fortnight to collect sufficient troops to meet the
Libyan invasion.^ He had then, however, to meet an
army of trained soldiers, and had no need to hasten,
since he occupied a strong position. Under the
circumstances of the Exodus, it was necessary to be
more prompt, and sufficient to collect a much smaller
arrny. This he appears to have been able to do at
the end of a few days.

It was scarcely to be expected that the Egyptian
records would present any evidence on the subject of
Menephthah's loss of a son by an untimely death.
Curiously, however, it does happen that a monument,

1 As generally in the " Records of the Past," and by M. Chabas in
his " Recherches pour servdr," etc., pp. 85, 88, 89, etc.

2M. Lenormant almost always replaces the "cavalry" of other trans-
lators by the expression '' des chars'' ("Manuel d'llistoire Ancienne,"
vol. ii./pp. 255, 256, etc.). He observes in one place, "The military
education of the Egyptians did not include teaching men to ride, since
they fought in chariots."

3 " Records of the Past," vol. iv., p. 43.

220 BAB YL ON AND E G YPT.

at present in the Berlin Museum, contains a proof of
his having suffered such a loss.^ There is no descrip-
tion of the circumstances, but a mere indication of the
bare fact. The confirmation thus lent to the Scriptural
narrative is slight ; but it has a value in a case where
the entire force of the evidence consists in its being
cumulative.

Three results would naturally follow on the occur-
rence of such circumstances as those recorded in
Exodus. Egypt would be for a time weakened in a
military point of view, and her glory, as a conquering
power, would suffer temporary eclipse. The royal
authority would be shaken, and encouragement
afforded to the pretensions of any rival claimants
of the throne. The loss of six hundred thousand
labourers would bring to an end the period of the
construction of great works, or, at the least, greatly
check their rapid multiplication. Now this is exactly
what all historians of Egypt agree to have been the
general condition of things in Egypt in the later years
of Menephthah and the period immediately following.
Military expeditions cease until the time of Rameses
III., a space of nearly forty years. The later years of
Menephthah are disturbed by the rise of a pretender,
Ammon-mes, who disputes the throne with his son,
and, according to Manetho,^ occupies it for five years.
Seti II., or Seti-Menephthah, has then a short reign ;
but another claimant is brought forward by a high

* Brugsch, " Histoire d'Egypte," p. 175.
^ Ap. Syncell., " Chronographia," p. 72, C.

NO TICES IN EXOD US. 221

official, and established in his place. Soon afterwards
complete anarchy sets in, and continues for several
years,^ till a certain Set-nekht is made king by the
priests, and tranquillity once more restored. The
construction of monuments during this period almost
entirely ceases ; and when Rameses III. shows the
desire to emulate the architectural glories of former
kings, he is compelled to work on a much smaller
scale, and to content himself with the erection of a
comparatively few edifices. *

1 See the " Great Harris Papyrus," translated by Dr. Eisenlohr in
the "Transactions of the Society of Biblical Archaeology," vol. i., p.
359, et scq.

CHAPTER XVII.

NOTICES OF EGYPT IN EXODUS AND NUMBERS.

" The children of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth." —
ExOD. xii. 37.

" It came to pass, when Pharaoh ha,d let the people go, that God led
them not [through] the way of the land of the Philistines, although
that was near . . . But God led the people about [through] the way
of the wilderness of the Red Sea . . . And they took their journey
from Succoth, and encamped in Etham, in the edge of the wilderness,"
— ExOD. xiii. 17-20.

" Speak unto the children of Israel, that they turn and encamp before
Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, over against Baal-Zephou ;
before it shall ye encamp by the sea."-^ExOD. xiv. 2.

" These are the journeys of the children of Israel, which went forth
out of the land of Egypt with their amiies under the hand of Moses
and Aaron. And Moses wrote their goings out according to their
journeys by the commandment of the Lord : and these are their journeys
according to their goings out. And they departed from Rameses in the
first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month . . . And the
children of Israel removed from Rameses, and pitched in Succoth.
And they departed from Succoth, and pitched in Etham, which is in
the edge of the wilderness. And they removed from Etham, and
turned again unto Pi-hahiroth, which is before Baal-Zephon : and they
pitched before Migdol. And they departed from before Pi-hahiroth,
.and passed through the midst of the sea into the wilderness, and went
three days' journey in the wilderness of Etham, and pitched in Marah.
And they removed from Marah, and came unto Elim . . . And they re-
moved from Elim, and encamped by the Red Sea." — Numb, xxxiii. i-io.
222

NOTICES IN EXODUS AND NUMBERS. 223

Although the geographical problems connected with
the Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt cannot be
said to be as yet completely solved, yet the course
of modern research has shed considerable light upon
the route followed by the flying people, and the posi-
tion of their various resting-places. The results
arrived at may be regarded as tolerably assured, since
they have not been reached without very searching
criticism and the suggestion of many rival hypotheses.
The boldest of these, started in the year 1874 by one
of the first of modern Egyptologists, Dr. Brugsch,^
for a time shook to its foundation the fabric of earlier
belief. The authority of its propounder was great, his
acquaintance with the ancient geography of Egypt
unrivalled, and his argument conducted with extreme
skill and ingenuity ; it was not to be wondered at,
therefore, that his views obtained for a time very
general credence. But researches conducted subse-
quently to the enunciation of his views, partly with
the object of testing them, partly without any such
object, have shown his theory to be untenable^; and
opinion has recently reverted to the old channel,
having gained by the discussion some additional
precision and definiteness. We propose in the present

^ The views of Dr. Brugsch were first propounded at the Interna-
tional Congress of Orientalists, held in 1874. They were afterwards
published in the English translation of his " History of Egypt," London,
1879.

2 See Mr. Greville Chester's papers in the " Quarterly Statements "
of the Palestine Exploration Fund, July, 1880, and April, 1881 ; and
Mr. Stanley Poole's paper in the British Quarterly Review for July,
1883.

224 BAB YL ON AND EGYPT.

chapter to consider the Exodus geographically, and
to trace, as distinctly as possible, the "journeys" of
the Israelites from their start on the day following the
destruction of the first-born to their entrance on the
" wilderness of Etham " after their passage of the Red
Sea.

The point of departure Is clearly stated both in
Exodus (ch. xii. 37), and in Numbers (ch. xxxiii. 3, 5)
to have been " Rameses.". What does this mean ?
We hear in Scripture both of a " land of Rameses "
(Gen. xlvii. 1 1), and of a city " Raamses," or Rameses.
It is not disputed that these two words are the same ;
nor does it seem to be seriously doubted that the land
received its name from the town. From which, then,
are we to understand that the Israelites made their
start? It has been argued strongly that " the land"
is intended;^ and with this contention we are so far
agreed, that we should not suppose any general gather-
ing of the people to the city of Rameses, but a move-
ment from all parts of the land of Rameses or Goshen
to the general muster at Succoth. Succoth seems to
us to have been the first rendezvous. But a portion
of the Israelites, and that the leading and guiding
portion, started probably from the town. Menephthah
resided at Pa-Ramesu, a suburb of Tanis. Moses and
Aaron held communication with him during the night,
after the first-born were slain. They must, therefore,
have been in the town or in its immediate neighbour-
hood. They received permission to depart (Exod. xii.

iSee Dr. Trumbull's " Kadesh-Barnea" (New York, 1884), p. 382.

NOTICES IN EXODUS AND NUMBERS. 225

31), and, as soon as morning broke, they set off
with the other IsraeUtes of the neighbourhood. It is
this start from the town of Ram*eses which the histo-
rian has in his eye ; he needs a definite terminus a quo,
from which to begin his account of the journeying
(Numb, xxxiii. 5), and he finds it in this city, the seat
of the court at the time. Rameses was in lat. 31°,
long. 32°, nearly, towards the north-eastern corner of
Egypt, about thirty miles almost due west of Pelu-
sium, from which, however, it was separated by a great
marshy tract, the modern Lake Menzaleh, which in
long. 32° 20' penetrates deep into the country, and
renders a march to the south-east necessary in order
to reach the eastern frontier of Egypt. The rendez-
vous must, consequently, have been appointed for
some place in this direction ; and it is in this direction
that we must seek it.

This place is termed both in Exodus (ch. xii. 37 ;
xiii. 20) and in Numbers (ch. xxxiii. 5,6)'' Succoth "
— i.e., ''Tents" or "Booths" — an equivalent of the
Greek I/.rfmi^ which is often used as a geographical
designation. It has been proposed to identify Suc-
coth with an Egyptian district called " Thuku " or
"Thukut,"^ and more recently with the newly-discov-
ered town of Pithom^ (Tel-el-Maskouteh). There is
no evidence, however, that Pithom was ever called
Succoth, nor would Tel-el-Maskouteh have been a

^Brugsch, "History of Egypt," translated by Philip Smith, 2d edit.,

p. 370-4-

2 Stanley Poole in the British Quarterly Review, July^ 1883, p. 1 1 3.

226 BAB YL ON AND EGYPT.

convenient rendezvous for two millions of persons,
with their flocks and herds. The Wady Toumilat
offers but a thin thread of verdure along the line of
the fresh-water canal, and though a convenient route
for those who came from the more southern part of
the " land of Goshen," would have been very much
out of the way for such as started from the more
northern portion, as from Tanis, or from the town of
Goshen (Qosem) itself But the district of Thukut, if
it lay where Dr. Trumbull places it,^ north and north-
west of Lake Timseh, would be a very convenient
place for a general muster, affording a wide space and
abundant pasture in the spring-time, and easily reached
both from south-west and north-west — -in the one case
by the Wady Toumilat, in the other by way of Tel-
Dafneh and the western shore of Lake Ballah. This
position for Thukut seems indeed to be definitely fixed
by the discoveiy of the ruins of Pithom, the capital
of Thukut, at Tel-el-Maskouteh, combined with the
statement in an Eg}^ptian text,^ that Thukut was a
region just within the Egyptian frontier, suited for
grazing, and in the vicinity of some lakes. Dr.
Brugsch's location of it on the southern shores of
Lake Menzaleh became impossible from the moment
that Tel-el-Maskouteh was proved to mark the site of
Pithom.

It may, perhaps, be objected to the location of
Succoth on the north and west of Lake Timseh, that

^See " Kadesh-Barnea," pp. 392-5,

2 Brugsch, " History of Eg\'pt," vol ii., p. 133,

NOTICES IN EXODUS AND NUMBERS. 227

the distance is thirty-five miles from Rameses (Tanis),
and therefore could not have been traversed in a day.
But nothing is said in Exodus, or elsewhere in Scrip-
ture, with respect to the length of time occupied by
the journey between any two of the stations men-
tioned, except in one instance, when the time occupied
was *' three days " (Exod. xv. 22 ; Numb, xxxiii. 8).
It took a month for the multitude to reach the wilder-
ness of Sin from their starting-point (Exod. xii. 18;
xvi. i) ; during this time we have only six stations
mentioned ; it took above a fortnight for them to move
from the wilderness of Sin to the plain before Sinai
(ch. xvi. i; xix. i); along this route are mentioned
only three stations (Numb, xxxiii. 1 2-1 5). Thus there
is every reason for supposing that the journey from
station to station occupied, in most cases, several days.
The children of Israel " took their journey from
Succoth and encamped in Etham," or " at Etham, in
the edge of the wilderness " (Exod. xiii. 20). No
name resembling Etham is to be found in the geograph-
ical nomenclature of Egypt, either native or classical.
Hence it is suspected that the word is rather a
common appellation than a proper name. " Khetam "
in Egyptian meant " fortress " ; and various khetaniu
are mentioned in the inscriptions — one near Pelusium,
called the " khetam of Zor '.' ; another near Tanis ; a
third, called the "khetam of King Menephthah,"
within the region of Thukot.^ The eastern frontier

1 Trumbull, "Kadesh-Barnea," p. 329; Brugsch, " History of Egypt,"
vol. ii., p. 380.

228 BAB YL ON AND EG YP T.

was, in fact, guarded by a series of such fortresses,
perhaps connected together by a wall or rampart ; and
especially the routes out of Egypt were thus guarded
and watched. It was probably to one of these
"khetams" — that which guarded the way out of
Egypt, known to the Hebrews as the " way of Shur "
(Gen. xvi. 7) — that the march of the Israelites was
directed from Succoth. The khetam lay *' in the edge
of the wilderness," and may perhaps be identified with
that of King Menephthah. It was probably not far
from the Bir Makdal of the maps, situated about ten
miles east of the Suez Canal, east by north of Ismailia.
The multitude must have supposed that they were
now about to enter the wilderness. They were ** in its
edge." Their leaders had doubtless brought with
them the king's permission to pass the frontier fortress.
The expectation must have been that on the morrow
they would quit Egypt for ever. But here God inter-
posed. Had the Israelites passed out of Egypt at this
point, the march would naturally have been across the
desert some way south of Lake Serbonis to the Wady
El Arish, and thence along the coast of the Mediter-
ranean to Gaza and the low tract of the Shefeleh. But
the nation was not yet in a fit condition to meet and
contend with the war-like people of that rich and
valuable region — the Philistines. God accordingly,
who guided the march by the pillar of the cloud and
of fire (ch. xiii. 21, 22), " led them not the way of the
land of the Philistines, although that was near ; for
God said, Lest the people repent when they see war,

NOTICES IN EXODUS AND NUMBERS. 229

and return to Egypt : but God led the people about,
the way of the wilderness of the Red Sea" (ib. 17,
18). Moreover, a direction was given through Moses
to the people, " that they turn and encamp before Pi-
hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, over against
Baal-Zephon " (ch. xiv. 2). It is clear that at this
point the direction of the march was changed ; and so
far all are agreed. But was the " turn " towards the
left or towards the right ? Was the " sea " by which
they were commanded to encamp the Mediterranean
or the Red Sea ?

It is the main point of Dr. Brugsch's theory that he
holds "the sea" to have been the Mediterranean. He
professes to find in this direction a Migdol, a Pi-
hahiroth, and a Baal-Zephon. The Migdol is twenty
miles from the Pi-hahiroth, and the Pi-hahiroth twenty-
five from the Baal-Zephon, which is thus forty-five
from the Migdol, for the three are nearly in a straight
line. The Pi-hahiroth and the Baal-Zephon are not
visible the one from the other.^ Still, though these
particulars of distance and position ill accord with the
expressions used in Exod. xiv. 2 and Numb, xxxiii. 7,
which imply proximity and the being within view, it
would have been a most curious circumstance had
there been on this side of the Isthmus of Suez, and
also on the opposite one, three places similarly named
within a moderate distance of each other. But on
examination it appears that only one of the three

1 Mr. Greville Chester in the " Quarterly Statement of the Palestine
Exploration Fund," July, i88o, p. 154, note.

230 BAB YL ON AND E G YPT.

names is attached to any locality on the north side of
the Isthmus otherwise than by conjecture. Dr.
Brugsch does not profess to have found in the remains
of ancient Egypt any place called Pi-hahiroth or any
called Baal-Zephon. He finds in Egyptian a word
khirot, signifying "gulfs," and he finds in Diodorus a
mention that there were ftdpadpa, " pits," at the western
end of Lake Serbonis. Out of these two facts he
constructs an Egyptian Pi-khirot,^ which he thinks
may have been the original of the Pi-hahiroth of the
Hebrews. Baal-Zephon he finds only mentioned in
Egyptian documents as a God, — he conjectures his
identity with Zeus Kasios, — and upon this pure con-
jecture locates his temple where one stood, erected to
Zeus Kasios, in post-Alexandrine times. If we put
aside these two mere conjectures, there remains only a
Migdol, which has a proved existence in these parts,
though its exact emplacement is uncertain.

Migdol, however, is a generic term, meaning "a
watch-tower." There are likely to have been many
" Migdols " on the eastern frontier of Egypt, and it is
maintained^ that there are traces of at least three.
One of these, called by the Greeks Magdolos, was
certainly towards the north, not far from Pelusium ;
another, central, has left its name to Bir Makdal ; a
third, towards the south, is represented by the existing

• ^ " History of Egypt," vol, ii., p. 393. The real Egyptian original of
Pi-hahiroth seems to have been " Pi-keheret," which is mentioned on a
tablet of the time of Ptolemy Philadelphus, found at Tel-el-Maskouteh.
2 Trumbull, " Kadesh-Barnea," pp. 374-8.

NOTICES IN EXODUS AND NUMBERS. 231

Muktala. This last may well be the Migdol of
Exodus.

Dr. Brugsch's theory that Lake Serbonis is the true
'' Yam Suph," or " Sea of Weeds," wrongly under-
stood by the Septuagint translators as " the Red Sea,"
has been completely disposed of by Mr. Greville
Chester, who shows, first, that Lake Serbonis is almost
wholly devoid of vegetation, either marine or lacus-
trine ; ^ secondly, that the spit of land between it and
the Mediterranean is not continuous, but interrupted
at the eastern extremity of the lake by a deep sea-
channel ; ^ thirdly, that there is no isthmus opposite
El Gelse dividing the lake into nearly equal portions,^
as Dr. Brugsch supposed ; and, fourthly, that the spit
of land is above fifty miles long, and takes a lightly-
equipped traveller three days to traverse,* instead of
being passable in the course of a night. It may be
added that, as the term " Yam Suph " is allowed by
all, including Dr. Brugsch, to designate the Red Sea
in Exod. xiii. 17 and Numb, xxxiii. 10, 11, it is incon-
ceivable that the same writer should in the same
narrative use it also of another far-distant sheet of
water (Exod. xv. 4, 22).

The propriety of the name " Yam Suph," as applied
to the Red Sea, has been well illustrated by Dr.
Trumbull.^ " Suph " in Hebrew means at once " sea-

1 " Quarterly Statement " of Palestine Exploration Fund for July,
1880, p. 155.

=^Ibid., p. 157. 3 Ibid., p. 154.

* Ibid., pp. 152-157. ^ " Kadesh-Barnea," pp. 353-356.

232

BAB YL ON AND EG YPT.

weed" (Jonah ii. 5), and " rushes " or "sedge " (Exod.
ii. 3, etc.). The Red Sea is famous for the number and
variety of its marine growths. " Weeds and corals
are to be seen in such profusion and beauty at many
places along the shores of the Red Sea, and again
below its surface, as disclosed at low water, as almost
to have the appearance of groves and gardens." ^
Again, " the jiinciis aaitus, arundo (Egyptiaca, or
arimdo Isaica, grows commonly on the shore of the
Red Sea, so that at this day a bay of the same is
called GJmbbet-el-biis, or * Reed Bay.' " ^ The observ-
ing naturalist, Klunzinger, says that, " Where the soil
of the desert along that coast is kept moist by lagoons
of sea water, the eye is gladdened by spreading
meadows of green verdure. The coast flora of the
desert, which requires the saline vapour of the sea, is
peculiar. A celebrated plant is the shora (Avicennia
officinalis), which forms large dense groves in the sea,
these being laid bare only at very low ebb. Ships are
laden with its wood, which is used as fuel, and many
camels live altogether on its laurel-like leaves." He
divides, indeed, the shore line of the Red Sea into the
** outer shore zone," or the reef line, and the " inner
shore or sea-grass zone." Even in the outer shore
zone there " flourish also in many inlets of the sea
thickets of the laurel-like shora shrub," as above
described ; and there are " sea-grass pools." In the

* Laborde, "Voyage de I'Arabie Petree," p. 5.

"^ Stickel, " Der Israeliten Auszug aus ^gypten " in " Studien und
Kritiken" for 1850, p. 331.

NOTICES IN EXODUS AND NUMBERS. 233

inner shore zone, " among the rocks, which are either
bare or covered with a blackish and red mucilaginous
sea-weed," there " grow green phanerogamous grasses
of the family of the Naiadese." ^

But if the sea intended in the directions given to
Moses (Exod. xiv. 2) was the Red Sea, Migdol, Pi-
hahiroth, and Baal-Zephon must be sought towards
the south ; and the ** turn " in the journey (ibid, and
Numb, xxxiii. 7), of which we have spoken, must have
been a turn to the right. It was to some extent a
*' turning back,'' as the Hebrew word used implies, a
*' return " into Egypt when the frontier had been
reached, and might have been crossed. It looked
like hesitation and doubt, like the commencement of
an aimless, purposeless wandering. Hence the Pha-
raoh took heart, and made preparations for a pursuit
at the head of an army (ch. xiv. 3, 5-9).

If the ''bitter lakes " were (as supposed by many^)
connected at the time with the northern end of the
Red Sea, as a marshy inlet, overflowed at high water,
and Pi-hahiroth were near Muktala, the Israelites, to
reach it, must have skirted the northern extremity of
the lakes, and have proceeded southward along their
western shores. A march of three days would bring
them into the plain north-west of Suez, at the western
edge of which the station Muktala (Migdol) is found.
The Israelites *' encamped between Migdol and the

1 Quoted from Dr. Trumbull's " Kadesh-Barnea," pp. 355-6.

2 As Kurtz, Sharpe, Stanley Poole, Reginald Stuart Poole, Canon
Cook, Lieutenant Conder, Burton, Villiers Stuart, Gratz, and others.

234 BAB YLON AND EG YPT.

sea," for which there would be abundant room, as the
distance is above ten miles. They were " beside Pi-
hahiroth and before Baal-Zephon " (ch. xiv. 9). These
conditions would be sufficiently answered if Pi-hahiroth
were at Ajrud, which is thought to retain a trace of
the name,^ and Baal-Zephon were on the north-eastern
flank of Jebel Atakah. Baal-Zephon is not necessarily
a Phoenician name, for the Egyptians had adopted
" Baal " as a god long before the time of Menephthah,
and Zephon (Zapouna or Typhon) was altogether
Egyptian. There is no proof beyond the notices in
Exodus that he had a temple, or a town named after
him, in this quarter ; but neither is there any proof of
his having had one in any other part of Egypt. It
has been argued that the position on Jebel Ataka
would be one exactly adapted to such a god as Baal-
Zephon;^ but we scarcely know enough of the Egyp-
tian religion to be sure of this. We can only say that
here, on the western coast of the Gulf of Suez, would
be ample room for the encampment of the entire
Israelitish host ; that in this position it might well
seem that " the wilderness had shut them in " (ch. xiv.
3) ; and that the host would be " before a Migdol "
(Numb, xxxiii. 7), and perhaps " beside a Pi-hahiroth "
(Exod. xiv. 9). The sea in front was but two or three
miles across, and might easily have been passed in a

^So Ebers (" Gosen zum Sinai," p. 526), Kurtz ("Hist, of Old
Covenant," vol. ii., p. 323), Keil and Delitzsch (" Bibl. Comment." on
Exod. xiv. 2), etc.

2 Trumbull, " Kadesh-Barnea," p. 421.

NOTICES IN EXODUS AND NUMBERS. 235

night ; the bottom was such as would naturally clog
the Egyptian chariot wheels (ver. 25), and the further
shore was destitute of springs, a true " wilderness "
(ch. XV. 22), where the Israelites may well have gone
** three days without water."

CHAPTER XVIII.

FURTHER NOTICES OF EGYPT IN EXODUS.

In considering the Biblical notices of Egypt contained
in the Book of Exodus, we have hitherto confined
ourselves almost entirely to the main narrative, and
indeed to such points of it as are capable of illus-
tration from historical documents, monumental or
literary. But the full force of the illustration which
profane sources are capable of lending to the Scrip-
tural account cannot be rightly estimated, unless we
add to this some consideration of those various minor
matters, incidentally touched upon, which constitute
the entourage of the main narrative, and render it
altogether so graphic and life-like. These touches
must be either the natural utterances of one familiar
with the country at the time, as Moses, the traditional
author of Exodus, would have been, or the artful
imitation of such utterances by a later writer, unfa-
miliar with the time, and probably with the scene,
drawing upon his imagination or his stock of anti-
quarian knowledge. In the former case, a general
agreement between the Biblical portraiture and the
facts as otherwise known to us might be confidently
236

NOTICES IN EXODUS.

237

looked for; in the latter, there would be sure to
appear, on examination, repeated contradictions and
discrepancies.

It will be the object of the present chapter to show
that there is a close accord between the Scriptural
notices and the facts as otherwise known to us in
respect of almost all the minor matters of which we
have spoken. These may be summed up under the
following principal heads : — (ci) the climate and pro-
ductions of Egypt, (Jj) the dress and domestic habits
of the people, (c) the ordinary food of the labouring
classes, {d^ customs connected with farming and
cattle-keeping, and (e) miscellaneous customs.

The climate of Egypt is touched upon mainly in
connection with the seventh plague, in ch. ix. We
find there heavy rain (ver. 33), hail, thunder and
lightning mentioned as occurring in early spring, and
doing great damage to the crops. The particular
visitation is spoken of as miraculous in coming at the
command of Moses (ver. 23), and as extraordinary in
its intensity (ver. 24), but not as a thing previously
unknown. On the contrary, it is implied that similar
visitations of less severity were not unusual. Objection
has been taken to the narrative on this account ; and
it has been represented as indicative of a great want
of acquaintance with the climatic circumstances of the
country, since rain and hail are, it has been said,
unknown in Egypt. But the only ground for such a
statement is the authority of the classical writers.
Herodotus regarded rain in Upper Egypt as a

238 BAB YL ON AND E G YPT.

prodigy/ and Mela goes so far as to call Egypt gener-
ally "a land devoid of showers."^ But the observa-
tion of modern travellers runs counter to such views,^
and supports the credit of the author of Exodus. In
Upper Egypt, indeed, "very heavy rain is unusual,
and happens only about once in ten years. Four or
five showers fall there every year, after long intervals."^
But in Lower Egypt, rain is as common in winter as
it is in the south of Europe. Storms of great severity
occur occasionally, more especially in February and
March, when snow, hail, thunder and lightning are not
uncommon. The Rev. T. H. Tooke " describes a storm
of extreme severity, which lasted twenty-four hours,
in the middle of February,"^ as high up the valley as
Beni-Hassan. Other travellers, as Seetzen and Will-
mann, speak of storms of thunder and hail in March.
" The ravines in the valley of the kings' tombs near
Thebes, and the precautions taken in the oldest
temples at Thebes to guard the roofs against rain by
lions' mouths, or gutters, for letting off the water from
them,"^ prove sufficiently that there was no great
difference between ancient and modern times in
respect of the rainfall of the Nile valley.

^ Herod, iii. lo.

2 Pomp. Mel., "De Situ Orbis," i. 9; *'^gyptus terra expers im-
brium."

' See the passages collected by Hengstenberg, " Egypt and the Books
of Moses," pp. 117, 118.

* Wilkinson in Rawlinson's " Herodotus," vol. ii., p. 409, note 4.
^"Speaker's Commentaiy," vol. i., p. 285.

* Wilkinson, 1. s. c. Compare " Ancient Egyptians," vol. ii., p. 426.

NOTICES IN EXODUS. 239

Among the cultivated products of Egypt mentioned
in Exodus, the principal are, wheat, barley, flax, and
rye, or spelt (ix. 32), to which may be added from the
Book of Numbers (xi. 5) cucumbers, melons, onions,
garlick, and leeks. Grains of wheat have been found
abundantly in the coffins containing mummies, and
" mummy wheat " is said to have been raised from*
such grains in various parts of Europe. The monu-
ments, moreover, represent to us in numerous instan-
ces the growth of wheat, the mode in which it was
cut, bound into sheaves, or gathered into baskets, and
threshed by the tread of cattle on a threshing-floor.^
Barley does not appear to be represented,^ but its
growth is manifest. It is mentioned as the ordinary
food of the Egyptian horses,^ and as one of the chief
materials used in the making of bread.^ It was also
largely employed in the manufacture of beer.^ Flax
was likewise cultivated on an extensive scale to furnish
the linen garments necessarily worn by the priests, and
preferentially by others, and needed also for mummy-
cloths, corselets, and various other uses. Spelt, like
wheat, is represented on the monuments,^ and accord-
ing to Herodotus, was the grain ordinarily consumed
by the Egyptians,^ as is the doora — probably the same
plant — at the present day. Herodotus also witnesses

1 See Wilkinson, "Ancient Eg>^ptians," vol. ii., pp. 418-427.

2 The Eg>'ptian wheat being bearded, it is not easy to say in some
cases whether barley or wheat is represented.

3 "Records of the Past," vol. ii., p. 75. "^Ibid., vol. viii., p. 44.

5 Wilkinson, "Ancient Egyptians," vol. ii., p. 42.

6lbid., p. 427. 7 Herod, ii. 36.

240 BAB YL ON AND E G YPT.

to the cultivation oi onions and of garlick/ while that
of cucumbers is attested by their being frequently-
figured in the tombs. The leeks of Egypt had the
character of being superior to all others in the time
of Pliny ,^ which would imply a long anterior cultiva-
tion. Melons are among the most abundant of the
modern products, but their growth in ancient times
seems not to be distinctly attested.

The abundant use of personal ornaments by the
Egyptians, and especially of ornaments in silver and
gold, implied in the direction given to the Israelites to
** borrow " such things of their neighbours and lodgers
before their departure from Egypt (ch. iii. 22), and in
the " spoil " which they thus acquired (ch. xii. 36), is
among the facts most copiously attested by the extant
remains. Ornaments in gold and silver have been
found in the tombs, not only of the great and opulent,
but even of comparatively poor persons ; they were fre-
quently worn by the men, and probably few women
were without them. Among the articles obtained from
the tombs are " rings, bracelets, armlets, necklaces, ear-
rings, and numerous trinkets belonging to the toilet."^
Most of these articles were common to the two sexes ;
but ear-rings were affected especially, if not exclu-
sively, by the women.

Egyptian men of the upper class carried, as a matter
of course, "walking-sticks."^ Hence the "rod" of

1 Herod., ii. 125. 2 pij^^ u jj. N." xix. t,-^.

^Wilkinson, "Ancient Egyptians," vol. ii., p. 236.
* Ibid., vol. ii., p. 28 ; vol. iii., p. 447.

NOTICES IN EXODUS. 241

Aaron was naturally brought into the presence of
Pharaoh (ch. vii. 10); and the magicians had also
"rods" in their hands (ib. ver. 12), which they ** cast
down " before Pharaoh, as Aaron had cast his. These
" rods," or rather " sticks," are continually represented
on the monuments : no Egyptian lord is without one;^
at an entertainment there was an attendant whose
especial duty it was to receive the sticks of the male
guests on their arrival, and restore them at their
departure.^

The Egyptians employed " furnaces " (ch. ix. 8) for
various purposes, " ovens " (ch. viii. 3) for the baking
of their bread, " kneading-troughs " (ibid.) for the for-
mation of the dough, and " hand-mills " (ch. xi. 5) for
the grinding of the corn into flour. "Their mills,"
says Sir Gardner Wilkinson, " were of simple and rude
construction. They consisted of two circular stones,
nearly flat, the lower one fixed, while the other turned
on a pivot, or shaft, rising from the centre of that
beneath it; and the grain, descending through an
aperture in the upper stone, immediately above the
pivot, gradually underwent the process of grinding as
it passed. It was turned by a woman, seated, and
holding a handle fixed perpendiculai ly near the edge.
. . . The stone of which the hand-mills were made
was usually a hard grit."^ Sir Gardner adds in a note

1 Birch, " Egypt from the Earliest Times," p. 45 : " The Egyptian
lord . . . carried a wand or walking-stick as a sign of dignity or
authority."

2 Wilkinson, "Ancient Egyptians," vol. i., pi. xi., fig. lo.

3 Ibid., vol. i., p. 359.

16

242 BAB YL ON AND EGYPT.

that he draws these conclusions from the fragments of
the old stones discovered among the ancient remains.
The same writer witnesses to the use by the ancient
Egyptians of furnaces, ovens, and kneading-troughs.^

One curious custom of an Egyptian household
obtains incidental mention in the account of the first
plague, viz., the storing of water in " vessels of wood
and in vessels of stone " (ch. vii. 19). Water being
exceedingly abundant in Egypt by reason of the Nile,
with its numerous branches, natural and artificial,
which conveyed the indispensable fluid almost to
every house, " storing " would have been quite
unnecessary but for one circumstance. The Nile
water during the period of the inundation is turbid,
and requires to be kept for a considerable time before
it becomes palatable and fit for use by the muddy
particles sinking gradually to the bottom, and leaving
pure water at the top. To produce this effect, it has
always been, and still is, usual to keep the Nile water
in jars, or stone- troughs, until the sediment is deposited,
and the fluid rendered fit for drinking.^

Another still more remarkable custom is brought
under notice by the narrative in ch. i. " When ye do
the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women," says
the Pharaoh to Shiphrah and Puah, ''and see them upon
the stools^ if it be a son, then ye shall kill him," etc.
The incident is one which its delicate nature" unfits for
representation, and the monuments thus fail to confirm

* Wilkinson, "Ancient Egyptians," vol. ii., pp. 34, 192.

2 Ibid., vol. ii., p. 428. Compare Pococke, "Travels," vol. i., p. 312.

NOTICES IN EXODUS, 243

it; but a modern practice, peculiar, so far as we know,
to Egypt, is probably the direct descendant of the
ancient one, and at any rate lends it illustration.
" Two or three days before the expected time of
delivery," says Mr. Lane, in his account of the manners
and customs of the modern Egyptians, " the layah
(midwife) conveys to the house the kiirsce elwilddeh, a
chair of a peculiar form, upon which the patient is to
be seated during the birth." ^

The ordinary food of the Israelites during the time
of their sojourn in Egypt is stated in one place
(Exod. xvi. 3) to have consisted of " bread " and
" flesh." But from another we can learn that it
embraced also " fish " in abundance, and likewise the
following vegetables : " cucumbers, melons, leeks,
onions, and garlic " (Numb. xi. 5). That bread was
its staple may be gathered from the institution of the
feast of unleavened bread (ch. xii. 15-20), as well as
from the mention of " dough " (ibid. vers. 34, 39) as
the only provision that they took with them, besides
their beasts, when they quitted the country. Now
''bread" was certainly "the staff of life" to the
Egyptian nation, and the food on which they would
naturally nourish their slaves. We find a king stating
that he offered in a single temple loaves of three
distinct kinds, viz., "best bread," "great loaves of
bread for eating," and " loaves of barley bread," to the
amount of 6,272,431.^ He also offered to the same

1 Lane, " Modern Egyptians," vol. iii., p. 142.
2 "Records of the Past," vol. viii., p. 44, line 5.

244 BAB YL ON AND E G YPT.

temple 5,279,552 bushels of corn.^ "Bread" is the
ordinary representative of food in Egyptian speech.
The good man "gives bread to the hungry ";2 artisans
labour for " bread " ; ^ " bread " is taken out to the
rustics who work in the fields/ and is brought for the
repast of young maidens.^ Flesh, on the other hand,
though largely consumed by the rich, was generally
beyond the means of the poor; and the Israelites
longing after the " fleshpots " of Egypt can only be
accounted for by supposing that the king nourished
his labourers on a more generous diet than was
obtainable by the working classes generally. It is not
likely, however, that they received flesh often. We
have probably in Num. xi. 5 the main constituents of
their dietary in addition to bread. Fish, which they
" did eat in Egypt freely," was undoubtedly one of the
principal articles of food consumed by the lower
orders. Herodotus says that a certain number of the
poorer Egyptians " lived entirely on fish." ^ It was so
abundant that it was necessarily cheap. The Nile
produced several kinds, which were easily caught;
and in Lake Moeris the abundance of the fish was
such that the Pharaohs are said to have derived from
the sale a revenue of above ;^94,ooo a year.^ Lake
Menzaleh also, and the other lakes near the coast, must

1 " Records of the Past," vol. viii., p. 45, line 13.

2 Birch, " Egypt from the Earliest Times," p. 46.
^"Records of the Past," vol. viii., p. 150.

*Ibid., vol. ii., p. 139, 5 ibi^.^ vol, vi., p. 154.

8 Herod, ii. 92. 7 jbid. ii. 149.

NOTICES IN EXODUS.

245

have yielded a considerable supply. The fishermen
of Egypt formed a numerous class/ and the salting
and drying of fish furnished occupation to a large
number of persons.^ The quantity of vegetable food
which the poorer Egyptians consumed is noted by
Diodorus,^ and Herodotus makes out that the
labourers whom Khufu (Cheops) employed to build
the great pyramid subsisted mainly, if not wholly, on
radishes, onions, and garlic* Cucurbitaceous vege-
tables are at present among the most abundant pro-
ductions of the Egyptian soil, and the monuments
frequently exhibit them.^ On the whole, therefore,
the dietary assigned to the Israelites in Egypt may be
pronounced such as the country was well capable of
furnishing, and such as agrees in most particulars with
the ordinary food of the Egyptian labouring class.

The customs connected with farming and cattle-
keeping noticed in Exodus and the later books of the
Pentateuch include, besides the cultivation of certain
cereals already mentioned, {a) the comparative late-
ness of the wheat and door a harvest (ch. ix. 31, 32);
(b^ the leaving of stubble in the fields after the
gathering in of the crops (ch. v. 12); (r) the general
cultivation of the land after the fashion of a garden
(Deut. xi. 10); (d^ the employment of irrigation in
such a way that the " foot " could direct the course of

^ Herod, ii. 92, 95 ; " Records of the Past," vol. viii., p. 153.
2 Wilkinson, "Ancient Egyptians," vol. ii., pp. 115-8.
5 Diod. Sic. i. 80. * Herod, ii. 125.

^Wilkinson, "Ancient Egyptians," vol. iii., pp. 419, 431.

246 BAB YL ON AND EG YPT.

the life-giving fluid (ibid.) ; (r) the cultivation of fruit-
trees (Exod. ix. 25; X. 15); and (/") the keeping of
cattle, partly in the fields, partly in stalls, or sheds,
where they were protected from the weather (ch.
ix. 19-25). With respect to the first of these points,
it may be observed that there is exactly the same
difference now as that which the writer of Exodus
notes, — " Barley ripens and flax blossoms about the
middle of February, or, at the latest, early in March," ^
while the wheat harvest does not begin till April.
There is thus a full month between the barley and the
wheat harvest.^ The doora is also a late crop.

The mode of reaping wheat which prevailed in
ancient Egypt is amply represented upon the monu-
ments, and appears to have been such as to leave
abundant stubble in the fields, as implied in ch. v. 12.
Not more than about a foot of the straw was cut with
the ear, two feet or more being left.^ The barley was
probably reaped in the same way.

It is not, perhaps, quite clear what is meant in Deut.
xi. 10 by the land of Egypt being cultivated "as a
garden of herbs "; but most probably the reference is,
as Wilkinson suggests,^ to the ordinary implement of
cultivation, the plough, being largely dispensed with,
and a slight dressing with the hoe, if even so much as
that, used instead. Herodotus witnesses to the preva-

* Canon Cook in the " Speaker's Commentary," vol. i., p. 286.

2 Birch in Wilkinson's " Ancient Egyptians," vol. ii., p. 42, note.
'Ibid., vol. ii., pp. 418-427.

* Wilkinson, "Ancient Egyptians," vol. ii., p. 389, note.

NO TICES IN EXOD US. 247

lence of this method of cultivation/ and the monu-
ments occasionally represent it.

The absolute necessity of irrigation, and the nature
of the irrigation, implied in the expression, " where
thou sowedst thy seed, and wateredst it with thy
foot" (Deut. xi. 10), receive illustration from the
pictures in the tombs, which show us the fields
surrounded by broad canals, and intersected every-
where by cuttings from them, continually diminishing
in size, until at last they are no more than rills banked
up with a little mud, which the hand or " foot " might
readily remove and replace, so turning the water in
any direction that might be required by the cultivator.

Fruit-trees are represented on the monuments as
largely cultivated and much valued. Among them
the vine holds the foremost place. A sceptical critic
was once bold enough to assert that the statements in
the Pentateuch which implied the existence of the
vine in Egypt were distinct evidence of '' the late
origin of the narrative." ^ But the tombs of Beni-
hassan, which are anterior to the Exodus, contain
" representations of the culture of the vine, the vintage,
the stripping off and carrying away of the grapes, of
two kinds of winepresses, the one moved by the
strength of human arms, the other by mechanical
power, the storing of the wine in bottles or jars, and its
transportation into the cellar." ^ No one now doubts

1 Herod, ii. 14.

* Von Bohlen, "Die Genesis historisch-critisch erlautert," § 373.
^ Champollion, quoted by Hengstenberg, " Egypt and the Books of
Moses," p. 15.

248 BA BYLOAT AND EGYPT.

that the vine was cultivated in Egypt from a time long
anterior to Moses. The fig and the date-bearing palm
were likewise grown for the sake of the fruit, grapes,
figs, and dates constituting the Egyptian lord's usual
dessert,^ while the last-named fruit was also made into
a conserve,^ which diversified the diet at rich men's
tables.

The breeding and rearing of cattle was a regular
part of the farmer's business in Egypt, and the wealth
of individuals in flocks and herds was considerable.
Three distinct kinds of cattle were affected — the long-
horned, the short-horned, and the hornless.^ " During
the greater part of the year they were pastured in
open fields, on the natural growth of the rich soil, or
on artificial grasses, which were cultivated for the
purpose ; but at the time of the inundation it was
necessary to bring them in from the fields to the farm-
yards or the villages, where they were kept in sheds
or pens on ground artificially raised, so as to be
beyond the reach of the river."* Thus the cattle
generally had " houses " (Exod. ix. 20), i. e., sheds or
stalls, into which it was possible to bring them at
short notice.

Among " miscellaneous customs " the following
seem most worthy of notice : {a) the practice of
making boats out of bulrushes (ch. ii. 3 ; compare
Isa. xviii. 2), and {b) the position occupied by magic

1 Birch, " Egypt from the Earliest Times," p. 45.

2 Wilkinson, "Ancient Egyptians," vol. ii., p. 43. *'' Ibid.
*Rawlinson, "History of Ancient Eg>'pt," vol. i., pp. 171, 172,

NOTICES IN EXODUS. 249

at the court of the Pharaohs. On the former point
Sir Gardner Wilkinson remarks^: "There was a small
kind of punt or canoe made entirely of the papyrus,
bound together with bands of the same plant — the
* vessels of bulrushes ' mentioned in Isa. xviii. 2." On
the latter M. Maspero makes the following statement^:
" Magic was in Egypt a science, and the magician one
of the most esteemed of learned men. The nobles
themselves, the prince Khamuas and his brother, were
adepts in supernatural arts, and decipherers of magic
formularies, in which they had an entire belief A
prince who was a sorcerer would nowadays inspire a
very moderate sentiment of esteem. In Egypt the
profession of magic was not incompatible with royalty,
and the sorcerers of a Pharaoh had not uncommonly
the Pharaoh himself for their pupil." The magical
texts form a considerable proportion of the MSS.
which have come down to us from ancient times, par-
ticularly from the nineteenth dynasty; and the com-
position of some of them was ascribed to a Divine
source.

' In Rawlinson's " Herodotus," vol. ii., p. 154, note.
2 Quoted by M. Lenormant, "Manuel d'Histoiie Ancienne," vol. ii.,
pp. 126-7.

CHAPTER XIX.

NOTICES OF EGYPT IN THE FIRST BOOK OF KINGS.

It is, at first sight, surprising that there is no mention
of Egypt in connection with the history of the Israel-
ites between the Exodus and the reign of Solomon.
The interval is one of, at least, three hundred — per-
haps of four hundred — years. During its earlier
portion, and again about a century before its close, the
Egyptian monarchs conducted expeditions into North-
ern Syria, if not even into Mesopotamia, which might
have been expected to have brought them, into contact
with the Hebrew people ; but the Hebrew records of
the time are entirely silent on the subject, and indeed
only mention Egypt retrospectively, as the place where
Israel had once suffered affliction.^ Perhaps the earlier
expeditions — ^those of Rameses 1 11.^ — may have taken
place while Israel was still detained in the " Wilder-
ness of the Wanderings," in which case there would
naturally have been no collision between the two
peoples ; while those of Rameses XII.^ and of Her-

ijosh.i. lo; xxiv. 4-7, 14, 17; i Sam.ii.27; vi.6; x.i8; xii.6-8.
^Brugsch, "History of Egypt," vol. ii., p. 152.
8 Ibid., vol. ii., pp. 184-7 ; Birch, " Egypt from the Earliest Times,"
pp. 149-153-
250

NOTICES IN THE FIRST BOOK OF KINGS. 251

hor^ (about B.C. 11 30-1 100), having Syria rather than
Palestine for their object, may have been conducted
along the coast route, by way of Philistia and Phoeni-
cia, into Coele-Syria, and so have left the Israelite
territory untouched, or nearly untouched. The main
explanation, however, of the disappearance of Egypt
from the narrative, is to be found in her general
depression and weakness during the period in ques-
tion, which prevented any real conquests from being
made, or any large armies sent into Western Asia, as
in the earlier times of Thothmes III., Amenhotep IL,
Seti, and Rameses II., or in the later ones of Sheshonk
and Neku. This depression is very marked in the
Egyptian remains, which show no really great or
conquering monarch between Rameses III. and She-
shonk I. During this space, which is that of the
judges and first two kings in Israel, Egypt really
ceased to be an aggressive power.

The Scriptural notices of Egypt belonging to the
reign of Solomon are the following : —

1. "Solomon made affinity with Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and took
Pharaoh's daughter, and brought her into the city of David." — i Kings
iii. I.

2. " Pharaoh, king of Egypt, had gone up and taken Gezer, and burnt
it with fire, and slain the Canaanites that dwelt in the city, and given
it for a present unto his daughter, Solomon's wife." — i Kings ix. 16.

3. « Solomon had horses brought out of Egypt, and linen yarn ; the
king's merchants received the linen yarn at a price. And a chariot
came up and went out of Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver, and
an horse for a hundred and fifty : and so for all the kings of the

1 Birch, p. 154.

252 BAB YL ON AND E G YPT.

Hittites, and for the kings of Syria, did they bring them out by their
means." — i Kings x, 28, 29.

4. " The Lord stirred up an adversary unto Solomon, Hadad the
Edomite : he was of the king's seed in Edom. For it came to pass,
when David was in Edom, and Joab, the captain of the host, was gone
up to bury the slain, after he had smitten eveiy male in Edom, . . .
that Hadad fled, he and certain Edomites of his father's servants with
him, to go into Egypt, Hadad being yet a little child ; and they arose
out of Midian, and came to Paran ; and they took men with them out
of Paran, and they came to Egypt, unto Pharaoh, king of Egypt, which
gave him an house, and appointed him victuals, and gave him land.
And Hadad found great favour in the sight of Pharaoh, so that he gave
him to wife the sister of his own wife, the sister of Tahpenes the queen ;
and the sister of Tahpenes bare him Genubath, his son, whom Tahpenes
weaned in Pharaoh's house : and Genubath was in Pharaoh's house-
hold, among the sons of Pharaoh." — i Kings xi. 14-20.

5. " Solomon sought to kill Jeroboam. And Jeroboam arose and
fled into Egypt, unto Shishak, . . . unto the death of Solomon." — i
Kings xi. 40.

There is nothing surprising in the willingness of a
Pharaoh of the twenty-first dynasty to give a daughter
in marriage to the foreign monarch of a neighbouring
country. Even in the most flourishing times the
kings of Egypt had been willing to form matrimonial
alliances with the Ethiopian royal house, and had both
taken Ethiopian princesses for their own wives' and
given their daughters in marriage to Ethiopian mon-
archs. The last king of the twentieth dynasty married
a " princess of Baktan " ^ — a Syrian or Mesopotamian ;
and even the great Rameses married a Hittite.^

^ Birch, " Egypt from the Earliest Times," pp. 81, 107, etc.

2 " Records of the Past," vol. iv., p. 57.

*Lenormant, "Manuel d'Histoire Ancienne," vol. ii., p. 264.

NOTICES IN THE FIRST BOOK OF KINGS. 253

According to i Chron. iv. 18, there was one Pharaoh
who allowed a daughter of his to marry a mere ordi-
nary Israelite. To " make affinity " with a prince
of Solomon's rank and position would have been
beneath the dignity of few Egyptian monarchs ; it
was probably felt as a highly satisfactory connection
by the weak Tanite prince whose daughter made so
good a match.

With which of the Tanite monarchs it was that
Solomon thus allied himself is uncertain. M. Lenor-
mant fixes definitely on Hor-Pasebensha/ or Pase-
bensha II., the last king of the dynasty; but an earlier
monarch is more probable. Solomon's marriage was
early in his reign (i Kings iii. i), and he reigned forty
years (ch. xi. 42), during the last five or ten of which
he would seem to have been contemporaiy with
Shishak (ch. xi. 40). When he ascended the throne,
the king who reigned in Egypt was probably either
Pasebensha I. or Pinetem 11. Unfortunately these
monarchs have left such scanty remains, that we know
next to nothing concerning them.

The conquest of Gezer by this Pharaoh, whoever he
was, and its transference to Solomon as his wife's
dowry (ch. ix. 16), though it cannot be confirmed
from Egyptian history, may be illustrated from
Assyrian. Sargon tells us in one of his inscriptions
that, having conquered the country of Cilicia with
some difficulty, on account of its great natural
strength, he made it over to Ambris, king of Tubal,
' Lenonnant, "Manuel d'Histoire Ancienne," vol. ii., p. 329.

254

BAB YL ON AND E G YPT.

who had married one of his daughters, as the prin-
cess's dowry.^

The establishment of commercial relations between
Palestine and Syria on the one hand and Egypt on the
other (ch. x. 28, 29) is exactly what might have been
expected to follow on the matrimonial alliance con-
cluded between Solomon and his Egyptian contem-
porary. When Rameses II. allied himself with the
Hittite royal house, interchange of commodities
between Egypt and Syria is the immediate conse-
quence. Corn is sent by sea from the valley of the
Nile to the Syrian mountain tract for the support of
the " children of Heth," ^ who doubtless made a return
in timber, or some other products of their own soil.
In Solomon's time the Egyptian commodities imported
by the Western Asiatics were different. Long practice
had perfected in Egypt the manufacture of chariots,
and these had become indispensable to the Hittite and
Syrian kings for the maintenance of their independ-
ence against the encroachments of Assyria. Each
king of these peoples — and there were several kings
of each^^ — maintained a war force of several hundred
chariots,^ for each of which were needed two well-
trained horses. These Egypt supplied, together (if
our translators are right) with " linen yarn," also a

^ "Ancient Monarchies," vol. ii., p. 150, note 6.
2 " Records of the Past," vol, iv., p. 43, 1. 24.

^ See 2 Sam. viii. 3-12; x. 6-1 6; i Kings x. 29; 2 Kings vii. 6; and
the Assyrian inscriptions passim.

* " Ancient Monarchies," vol, ii., p. 103, note 7.

NOTICES IN THE FIRST BOOK OF KINGS. 255

commodity known to have been produced largely in
that country.'

The story of Hadad's flight to Egypt and hospitable
reception by an Egyptian Pharaoh, whose queen's
name was Tahpenes, admits of no illustration from
profane sources. We do not know the names borne
by the queens of the later monarchs of the twenty-
first dynasty, and we have thus no means of identifying
the Pharaoh intended. No doubt Egypt was at all
times open as a refuge to political exiles ; but there
must have been special reasons for the high favour
shown to Hadad. Perhaps he was already connected
by blood with the Tanite monarchs ; perhaps Edom
had been in alliance with Egypt before David con-
quered it.

Jeroboam's flight to Shishak brings before us an
Egyptian monarch who is fortunately unmistakable.
Hitherto the sacred writers have been content, when
mentioning Egyptian kings, to speak of them by their
recognised official title of " Pharaoh." ^ Now for the
first time is this habit broken through, and the actual
proper name of an Egyptian monarch presented to us.
The Hebrew Shishak {^^^"^^ represents almost exactly
the Egyptian name ordinarily written " Sheshenk,"
but sometimes " Sheshek,"^and expressed in the frag-
ments of Manetho by Sesonchis ( JsV^y^-^t?).* This is

1 Herod, ii. 37, 182; iii. 47; Plin., " H. N." xix. i.

2 See above, ch. xiii.

3 Lepsius, " Ueber die XXII. iEgyptische Konigs dynastie," pp. 267,
289.

* Syncellus, " Chronographia," pp. 73D, 74D.

256 BAB YL ON AND EG YPT.

a name well known to Egyptologists. Wholly absent
from all the earlier Egyptian monuments, it appears
suddenly in those of the twenty-second (Bubastite)
dynasty, where it is borne by no less than four mon-
archs, besides occurring also among the names of
private individuals. This abundance would be some-
what puzzling were it not for the fact that one only of
the four monarchs is a warrior, or leads any expedition
beyond the borders.^ The records of the time leave
no doubt that the prince who received Jeroboam was
Sheshonk I., the founder of the Bubastite line, the son
of Namrot and Tentespeh, the first king of the twenty-
second dynasty.

" It came to pass in the fifth year of King Rehoboam that Shishak,
king of Egypt, came up against Jerusalem ; and he took away the
treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king's
house ; he even took away all ; and he took away all the shields of gold
which Solomon had made." — I Kings xiv. 25, 26,

With this may be compared 2 Chron. xii. 1-9 : —

" And it came to pass, when Rehoboam had established the king-
dom, and had strengthened himself, he forsook the law of the Lord,
and all Israel with him; and it came to pass, that in the fifth year of
King Rehoboam Shishak, king of Egypt, came up against Jerusalem,
because they had transgi'essed against the Lord, with twelve hundred
chariots and threescore thousand horsemen; and the people were
without number that came with him out of Egypt — the Lubims, and
the Sukkiims, and the Ethiopians. And he took the fenced cities which
pertained to Judah, and came to Jerusalem. Then came Shemaiah the
prophet to Rehoboam, and to the princes of Judah that were gathered
together to Jerusalem because of Shishak, and said unto them. Thus saith

^ Lenormant, " Manuel d'Histoire Ancienne," vol. ii., p. 340.

NOTICES IN THE FIRST BOOK OF KINGS. 257

the Lord, Ye have forsaken Me, and therefore also have I left you in
the hand of Shishak. Whereupon the princes of Israel and the king
humbled themselves, and they said, The Lord is righteous. And when
the Lord saw that they humbled themselves, the word of the Lord
came to Shemaiah, saying, They have humified themselves ; therefore
I will not destroy them, but I will grant them some deliverance ; and
My wrath shall not be poured out upon Jerusalem by the hand of
Shishak. Ncvef-theless they shall be his sei-vants, that they may know
My service and the service of the kingdoms of the countries. So
Shishak, king of Eg>'pt, came up against Jerusalem, and took away
the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the
king's house ; he took all ; he earned away also the shields of gold
which Solomon had made."

The Palestinian expedition of Sheshonk I. forms
the subject of a remarkable bas-relief/ which, on his
return from it, he caused to be executed in commem-
oration of its complete success. Selecting the Great
Temple of Karnak, at Thebes, which Seti I. and
Rameses II. had already adorned profusely with
representations of their victories, he built against its
southern external wall a fresh portico or colonnade,
known to Egyptologists as "the portico of the Bubas-
tites," and carved upon the wall itself, to the east of
his portico, a memorial of his grand campaign. First,
he represented himself in his war costume, holding by
the hair of their heads with his left hand thirty-eight
captive Asiatic chiefs, and with an iron mace uplifted
in his right threatening them with destruction.
Further, he caused himself to be figured a second
time, and represented in the act of leading captive a

ipor a representation of this monument, see the " Denkmaler " of
Lepsius, part iii., pis. 252 and 253 a.
17

258 BA B YL ON AND EGYPT.

hundred and thirty-three cities or tribes, each specified
by name and personfied in an individual form, accom-
panied by a cartouche containing their respective
names. In the physiognomies of these ideal figures
the critical acumen or lively imagination of a French
historian sees rendered " with marvellous ethnographic
exactness " the Jewish type of countenance ;^ but less
gifted travellers do not find anything very peculiar in
the profiles, which, whether representing Jews or
Arabs, are almost exactly alike.

The list of names contained in the record is very
much more interesting than the array of counte-
nances accompanying them. They have been carefully
transcribed, and compared with those which occur in
the Hebrew Scriptures, both by Mr. Reginald Stuart
Poole ^ and by Dr. Brugsch.^ It results from the
comparison, first, that of the ninety names which are
legible about forty or forty-five may be pretty certainly
identified either with Palestinian towns or districts or
with Arab tribes of the neighbourhood ; secondly,
that the Arab tribe names are in several instances
repeated ; and thirdly, that the Palestinian town names
are divisible into three classes : {a) cities of Judah
proper, (8) Levitical cities within the limits of the
kingdom of Israel, and ic) Canaanite cities within the
same limits. To the first class belong Adoraim (called

^ Lenormant, " Manuel d'Histoire Ancienne," vol. ii., p. 340.
^ See the article on Shishak in Smith's *' Dictionary of the Bible,"
vol. iii.

•• " Geschichte /Eg}'pten.s unter den Pharaonen," pp. 660-662.

NOTICES IN THE FIRST BOOK OF KINGS. 259

Adurma), Aijalon (called Ayulon), and Shoco (called
Shauke), which were among the " fenced cities " that
Rehoboam fortified in anticipation of Sheshonk's
attack (2 Chron. xi. 5-10); also Gibeon (Kebeana),
Alemeth (Beith-'almoth), Beth-Tappuah (Beith-Ta-
puh), Telem (Zalema), Azem (Aauzamaa), and Lebaoth
(Libith). To the second class may be assigned Taa-
nach (Ta'ankau), mentioned as a Levitical city in Josh,
xxi. 25 ; Rehob (Rehabau), mentioned in Josh. xxi.
31 and I Chron. vi. 75; Mahanaim (Mahunema), men-
tioned Josh. xxi. 38, I Chron. vi. 80; Beth-horon
(Beith-Huaron), mentioned Josh. xxi. 22, i Chron. vi.
68 ; Kedemoth (Kademoth), mentioned Josh. xxi. 37,
I Chron. vi. 79 ; Bileam (Bilema), mentioned i Chron.
vi. 70; Golan (Galenaa), mentioned Josh. xxi. 27, i
Chron. vi. 71 ; and Anem (Anama), mentioned in i
Chron. vi. 73. As belonging to the third class we can
only fix positively on Beth-shan (Beith-shan-ra) and
Megiddo (Maketu) ; but Rabbith, Shunem, Hapha-
raim, and Edrei, which are also contained in Shes-
honk's list of his conquests, may be suspected of having
retained a Canaanite element in their population.

This list is remarkable both for what it contains and
for what it omits. The omission of most of those
strongholds towards the south, which Rehoboam forti-
fied against Egypt, as Hebron, Lachish, Azekah,
Mareshah, Gath, Adullam, Bethzur, and Tekoa (2
Chron. xi. 6-10), is perhaps to be explained by the
illegibility of twelve names at the beginning of the list,
where these cities, as the first attacked, would most

26o BAB YL ON AND EGYPT.

probably have been mentioned. The omission of
Jerusalem might also be accounted for in the same way.
Or the fact may have been that Jerusalem itself was
not taken. Like Hezekiah, on the first invasion of
Sennacherib (2 Kings xviii. 13-16), Rehoboam may
have surrendered his treasures (i Kings xiv. 26) to
save his city from the horrors of capture. This was,
perhaps, the fulfilment of God's promise by the mouth
of Shemaiah — 'M will grant them some deliverance,
and My wrath shall not be poured upon Jerusalem
by the hand of Shishak " (2 Chron. xii. 7). The
Egyptian monarch, on receiving the treasures and the
submission of Rehoboam (ibid. ver. 8), may have con-
sented to respect the city.

But, as he could not mention Jerusalem among his
actual conquests, he supplied the place where the
name would naturally have occurred with an inscrip-
tion of a peculiar kind. The cartouche borne by one
of the earlier of the ideal figures contains the epigraph
" YUTeH MALeK," in which Egyptologists generally
recognise a boast either that the " king " or the " king-
dom of Judah " made submission to the conqueror.
" Yuteh Malek " is, we think, most properly read as
" Judah, a kingdom." By introducing the words,
Sheshonk wished to mark that besides subduing cities
and districts and tribes, he had in one case conquered
a country which was under the government of a king.

The fact that a large proportion of the towns men-
tioned as taken are in the territories not of Rehoboam,
against whom Sheshonk " went up " (i Kings xiv. 25),

NOTICES IN THE FIRST BOOK OF KINGS. 261

but of Jeroboam, his protege and friend, whom his
expedition was doubtless intended to assist, and the
further fact that these towns were chiefly Levitical or
Canaanite, would seem to show that Jeroboam, in
the earlier part of his reign, had considerable opposi-
tion to encounter within the limits of his own king-
dom. The disaffection of those Levites whose posses-
sions lay within his territories is sufficiently indicated
in Chronicles by the account which is there given (2
Chron. xi. 13, 14) of a number of them leaving their
possessions and " resorting to Rehoboam throughout
all their coasts." It is probable that such as remained
were equally hostile, and that Jeroboam used the
arms of his ally to punish them. At the same time,
he was enabled by Egyptian aid to reduce a few
Canaanite cities which still maintained their inde-
pendence, as Gezer had done until conquered by the
Pharaoh who gave his daughter to Solomon (2 Kings
ix. 16).

The army with which Sheshonk invaded Palestine
is more numerous than we should have anticipated,
and some corruption in the numbers maybe suspected.
It is composed, hov/ever, exactly as the monuments
would have led us to expect, almost wholly of foreign
mercenaries (2 Chron. xii. 3), Libyans, Ethiopians, and
others. The Egyptian armies at this time consisted,
for the most part, of Maxyes and other Berber tribes
from the north-west, and of Ethiopians and negroes
from the south.^ Sheshonk, who was himself of

1 Lenormant, " Manuel d'Histoire Ancienne," vol. ii., pp. 340, 341.

262 BAB YL ON A ND EGYPT.

foreign descent, placed far more dependence on these
foreign troops than on the native Egyptian levies.

" Asa had an army of men that bare targets and spears. , . . And
there came out against them Zerah the Ethiopian with an host of a
thousand thousand and three hundred chariots, and came unto Mare-
shah. Then Asa went out against him, and they set the battle in aiTay
in the valley of Zephathah at Mareshah. And Asa cried unto the
Lord, . . . and the Lord smote the Ethiopians before Asa and before
Judah, and the Ethiopians fled. And Asa and the people that were
with him pursued them unto Gerar ; and the Ethiopians were over-
thrown, that they could not recover themselves."— 2 Chron. xiv. 9-13.

The Egyptians do not record unsuccessful expedi-
tions, and thus the monuments contain no mention of
this attack on Asa. It appears to have been provoked
by Asa's rebellion, which is glanced at in 2 Chron.
xiv. 6. The Egyptian monarch who sent or led the
expedition was probably Osorchon (Uasarkan) II.,
whose name the Hebrews contracted into Zerach
(n!)T). He was, perhaps, an Ethiopian on his mother's
side. Asa's defeat of his vast army is the most
glorious victory ever obtained by an Israelite monarch,
and secured his country from any Egyptian attack for
above three centuries.

CHAPTER XX.

NOTICES OF EGYPT IN THE SECOND BOOK OF KINGS.

" In the twelfth year of Ahaz, king of Judah, began Hoshea,the son
of Elah, to reign in Samaria. . . . Against him came up Shalmaneser,
king of Assyria; and Hoshea became his servant, and gave him
presents. And the king of Assyria found conspiracy in Hoshea, for he
had sent messengers to So, king of Egypt, and brought no present to
the king of Assyria, as he had done year by year; therefore the king
of Assyria shut him up, and bound him in prison." — 2 Kings xvii. 1-4.

It is not very easy to identify the " king of Egypt "
here mentioned, as one with whom Hoshea. the son
of Elah, sought to ally himself, with any of the known
Pharaohs. " So " is a name that seems at first sight
very unlike those borne by Egyptian monarchs, which
are never monosyllabic, and in no case end in the
letter 0. A reference to the Hebrew text removes, how-
ever, much of the difficulty, since the word rendered by
''So" in our version is found to be one of three letters,
«1D, all of which may be consonants. As the Maso-
retic pointing, which our translators followed, is of
small authority, and in proper names of scarcely any
authority at all, we are entitled to give to each of the
three letters its consonant force, and, supplying short
vowels, to render the Hebrew i<^D by '' Seveh." Now
" Seveh " is very near jndeed to the Manethonian

263

264 ^^^ yL ON AND EG YP T.

" Sevech-us," whom the Sebennytic priest makes the
second monarch of his twenty-fifth dynasty; and
" Sevech-us " is a natural Greek equivalent of the
Egyptian *' Shebek " or " Shabak," a name borne by a
well-known Pharaoh (the first king of the same
dynasty), which both Herodotus and Manetho render
by ** Sabacos." It has been generally allowed that So
(or Seveh) must represent one or other of these, but
critics are not yet agreed which is to be preferred of
the two.^ To us it seems that both the name itself
and the necessities of the chronology point to the first
king rather than to the second ; and we consequently
regard Hoshea as having turned in his distress to
seek the aid of the monarch whom the Egyptians
knew as Shabak, and the Greeks as Sabacos or Sabaco.^
The application implies an entire change in the
condition of political affairs in the East, and in the
relations of state to state, from those which prevailed
when Egyptian monarchs last figured in the sacred
narrative, two hundred or two hundred and fifty years
earlier. Then Egypt was an aggressive power, bent
on establishing her influence over Palestine, and from
time to time invading Asia with large armies in the
hope of making extensive conquests.^ She was the
chief enemy feared by the petty kingdoms and loosely
aggregated tribes of South-western Asia, the only

' The general opinion is in favour of Shabak ; but some, like Hekek-
yan Bey ("Chronology of Siriadic Monuments," p. io6), prefer
Shabatok.

^Ilerod. ii. 139; Manetho ap, Syncell. "Chronograph.," p. 74, B.

'2Chron. xii. 3; xiv. 9.

NOTICES IN THE SECOND BOOK OF KINGS. 265

power in their neighbourhood that possessed large
bodies of discipHned troops and an instinct of self-
aggrandisement. But all this was now altered.
Egypt, from the time of Osarkon II., had steadily
declined in strength ; her monarchs had been inactive
and unwarlike, her policy one of abstention from all
enterprise. The inveterate evil of disintegration with
which her ill-shaped territory was naturally threat-
ened, and which had from time to time shown itself in
her history, once more made its appearance. There
arose a practice of giving appanages to the princes
of the royal house, which tended to become hereditary,
and trenched on the sovereignty of the nominal mon-
arch. " Egypt found herself divided into a certain
number of principalities, some of which contained
only a few towns, while others extended over several
adjacent cantons. Ere long the chiefs of these prin-
cipalities were bold enough to reject the suzerainty
of the Pharaoh ; relying upon their bands of Libyan
mercenaries, they not only usurped the functions of
royalty, but even the title of king, while the legitimate
reigning house, relegated to a corner of the Delta,
with difficulty preserved a remnant of its old autho-
rity." ^ By the close of the twenty-second dynasty,
" Egypt had arrived at such a point of disintegration
as to find herself portioned out among nearly twenty
princes, of whom four at least assumed the cartouche
and the other emblems of royalty." ^

^Lenormant, "Manuel d'Histoire Ancienne," vol, ii., p. 341.
2 Ibid., p. 342.

266 BAB YL ON AND EGYPT.

Meanwhile, as if to counterbalance the paralysis
and discrepitude of the Egyptian state, there had
arisen on the other side of Syria and Palestine a great
power, continually increasing in strength, with the
same instinct of aggrandisement which had formerly
possessed Egypt, and with even greater aptitudes for
war and conquest. Assyria, from about b. c. 880, or a
little earlier, began to press westward upon the nations
dwelling between the Euphrates and the Mediterra-
nean, and to threaten them with subjugation. Asshur-
nazir-pal took Carchemish, conquered Northern Syria,
and forced the Phoenician cities to make their submis-
sion to him.^ His son, Shalmaneser II., engaged in
wars with Hamath, Damascus, and Samaria; defeated
Benhadad, Hazael, and Ahab ; and made Jehu take
up the position of a tributary.^ The successors of
these two warlike princes '* fairly maintained the
empire which they had received," ^ and even pushed
their expeditions into Philistia and Edom. After a
lull in the war-storm, which lasted from about B.C.
780 to 750, it recommenced with increased fury.
Tiglath-Pileser II. crushed the kingdom of Damascus,
and greatly crippled that of Samaria, besides which he
reduced the Philistines and several tribes of Arabs.
He was succeeded by Shalmaneser IV., the monarch
mentioned in 2 Kings xvii. 3.

The situation was thus the following. The petty

^"Ancient Monarchies," vol. ii., pp. 88, 89.

2 Ibid., pp. 102-106.

2 Sayce, " Ancient Empires of the East," p. 375.

NOTICES IN THE SECOND BOOK OF KINGS. 267

States of Palestine and Syria had been suffering from
the attacks of the Assyrians for a century and a half
One after another, the greater part of them had suc-
cumbed. First they were made tributaries ; then they
were absorbed into the conquering state and became
mere provinces. Hoshea found his kingdom threat-
ened with the fate which had befallen so many others.
He had the courage to make an effort to save it.
Casting an anxious glance over the entire political
position, he thought that he saw in the Egyptian
monarch of the time a possible deliverer. For there
had been quite recently a revolution in Egypt. The
weak and indolent native monarchs had been thrust
aside, and superseded by a stronger and fiercer foreign
race from the neighbouring Ethiopia. ** So," or
Shabak, was one of these foreigners, and wielded the
resources of two countries, his adopted and his native
one. It was reasonable to expect that he would see
the danger which menaced Egypt from the new
masters of Western Asia, and the desirability of main-
taining the barrier between his own dominions and the
Assyrian, which the still unconquered tribes and king-
doms of Syria and Palestine were capable of constitut-
ing. There were others besides Samaria ripe for
revolt.^ It would have been a wise policy on the part
of the Egyptian monarch to have fomented the dis-
affection, and supported with his full force the move-
ment in favour of independence which was in progress.

1 As Tyre, which actually revolted a year or two later ; and Hamath,
Arpad, Simyra, and Damascus, which revolted from Sargon in B.C. 721.

268 BAB YL ON AND EGYPT.

Hoshea's " messengers," under these circumstances,
sought the court of Shabak, which appears to have
been fixed at Memphis, in Lower Egypt.^ It would
seem that they were received with favour, and that
material aid was promised, since Hoshea almost
immediately broke into open revolt by withholding
the tribute due to his Assyrian suzerain. With the
utmost promptness Shalmaneser marched against him,
seized his person, and carried him off to Nineveh.
Shabak made no effort in his defence. The first
attempt of the people of God to " call to Egypt "
(Hos. vii. ii) thus proved a most disastrous failure:
the king, who had " trusted upon the staff of the
bruised reed" (2 Kings xviii. 21), was ruined by his
misplaced confidence, and within a few years his
capital was taken (ibid. ver. 6), and his people carried
into captivity (ibid,).

"And Rabshakeh said, . . . Speak ye now to Hezekiah, Thus saith
the great king, the king of Assyria, "What confidence is this wherein
thou trustest? Thou sayest — but they are but vain words — I have
counsel and strength for the war. Now on whom dost thou trust, that
thou rebellest against me ? Now, behold, thou trustest upon the staff
of this bruised reed, even upon Egypt, on which if a man lean, it will
go into his hand and pierce it ; so is Pharaoh, king of Egypt unto all
that trust on him." (ch. xviii. 19-21).

"When he" {i.e. Sennacherib) "heard say of Tirhakah, king of
Ethiopia, Behold, he is come out to fight against thee, he sent messen-
gers again to Hezekiah, saying, Let not thy God in whom thou trustest
deceive thee, saying, Jerusalem shall not be delivered into the hand of
the king of Assyria" (ibid., vers. 9, 10).

* Rawlinson, " History of Ancient Egypt," vol. ii., p. 446.

NOTICES IN THE SECOND BOOK OF KINGS. 269

Another act in the drama has been opened. The
kingdom of Samaria having been conquered and
absorbed by the terrible Assyrians, it is Judaea's turn to
be threatened with a similar fate. Not that she is now
threatened for the first time. Before Samaria had
fallen, Ahaz, the father of Hezekiah, placed himself
voluntarily under the Assyrian suzerainty, consenting
to become the vassal of Tiglath-Pileser (2 Kings xvi.
7-10). Hezekiah threw off the Assyrian yoke (ch.
xviii. 7) ; but it was reimposed upon him first, as it
would seem, by Sargon,^ and again (about B.C. 701)
by Sennacherib (ibid., vers. 13-16). The Jewish mon-
arch was, however, at no time a submissive or willing
vassal ; and he had no sooner bowed his neck to Sen-
nacherib's yoke, than he began to make preparations
for recovering his independence. Like his brother
monarch in Samaria, he thought that he saw in Egypt
his best ally and protector. We may gather from
Sennacherib's reproaches in this chapter, as well as
from passages in the prophecies of Isaiah, that a
formal embassy was sent either to Tirhakah at Napata,
or to his representative in Lower Egypt, with an offer
of alliance and a request for armed assistance, espe-
cially chariots and horsemen (ibid., vers. 23, 24). As
in the former instance, the answer received was favour-
able. Tirhakah was an enterprising monarch who
left a name behind him which marks him as one of

1 Sargon claims in his inscriptions to have conquered Jerusalem (see
Mr. Cheyne's " Isaiah," vol. i., p. 69). Various passages of Isaiah are
thought to have reference to this conquest.

270 BAB YL ON AND EGYPT.

the greatest of Egypt's later kings.^ He saw the
wisdom of upholding the independence of Judaea, and,
accepting the alliance proffered by Hezekiah, probably
gave an assurance of help, should Sennacherib attempt
to punish his revolted vassal.

The occasion for fulfilling his promise soon arrived.
Sennacherib, in b. c. 700 or 699, once more proceeded
into Palestine,^ and, sending a general to frighten
Hezekiah into submission (ibid., ver. 17), himself
marched on towards the south. He had received
information of the alliance that had been concluded
between Judaea and Egypt (vers. 21, 24), and regard-
ing Tirhakah as his chief enemy, pressed forward to
encounter his troops. Tirhakah, on his part, remained
faithful to his ally, and put his army in motion to meet
Sennacherib (ch. xix. 9).

This boldness is quite in accordance with Tir-
hakah's character. He was an enterprising prince,
engaged in many wars, and a determined opponent of
the Assyrians. His name is read on the Egyptian
monuments as Tahark or Tahrak ; and his face, which
appears on them, is expressive of strong determina-
tion. The Assyrian inscriptions tell us that, in the
later part of his life, he carried on a war for many
years with Esar-haddon and his son, Asshur-bani-pal.^

* Megasthenes, Fr. 80.

' M. Lenormant considers that the embassy of Rabshakeh and de-
struction of Sennacherib's host fell in the same year as his first invasion
("Manuel d'Histoire Ancienne," vol. ii., p. 361); but it seems to me
more probable that they were separated by a short interval.

^G. Smith, "History of Asshur-bani-pal," pp. 15-47.

NOTICES IN THE SECOND BOOK OF KINGS. 271

If his star ultimately paled before that of the latter, it
was not from any lack of courage, or resolution, or
good faith on his part. He struggled gallantly
against the Assyrian power for above thirty years,
was never wanting to his confederates, and, if he did
not quite deserve the high eulogies of the Greeks,
was, at any rate, among the most distinguished
monarchs of his race and period.

" In his " (Josiah's) " days Pharaoh-Nechoh, king of Egypt, went
up against the king of Assyria to the river Euphrates ; and King Josiah
went against him ; and he slew him at Megiddo, when he had seen
him, . . . And the people of the land took Jehoahaz, the son of Josiah,
and anointed him, and made him king in his father's stead. . . . And
Pharaoh-Nechoh put him in bands at Riblah, in the land of Hamath,
that he might not reign in Jerusalem, and put the land to a tribute of an
hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold. And Pharaoh-Nechoh
made Eliakim, the son of Josiah, king in the room of Josiah his father,
and turned his name to Jehoiakim, and took Jehoahaz away ; and he
came to Egypt, and died there " (ch. xxiii. 29-34).

An interval of ninety years separates this notice
from the one last considered. The position of affairs
is once more completely changed. Although the
present passage, taken by itself, does not give any
indication of what had occurred, it is quite certain
that, in the interval between Tirhakah's war with
Sennacherib and " Pharaoh-Necho's " invasion of Pal-
estine, the empire of Assyria had come to an end.
Necho was on his way " to fight against Carchemish
by Euphrates " (2 Chron. xxxv. 20) with " the house
wherewith he had war " (ibid.) ; and that house was
not the old one of the Sargonidae, wherewith Tirhakah

272 BAB YL ON AND EGYPT.

had contended, but a new "house" which had recently
come into power, and which held its court, not at
Nineveh, but at Babylon (Isa. xlvi. 2). The exact
year of the fall of Assyria is indeed uncertain;^ but
all authorities agree that it had taken place before the
date of Necho's expedition, which was in B.C. 608.
By " king of Assyria," in ver. 29, we must therefore
understand king of Babylon, just as in Ezra vi. 22 we
must understand by " king of Assyria" king of Persia.
The Babylonian monarch, Nabopolassar, had taken a
share in the great war by which the empire of the
Assyrians was brought to an end,^ and had succeeded
to Assyria's rights in Western Mesopotamia, Syria,
and Palestine. He was probably regarded by Josiah
as his suzerain, and therefore entitled to such help as
he could render him.

While these changes had taken place in Asia, in
Africa also the condition of affairs was very much
altered. The Ethiopian dynasty, after its long struggle
against Assyria, had been forced to yield, had given
up the contest, and retired from Egypt altogether.^
Assyria had for a time held Egypt under her sway, and,
acting in the spirit of the maxim, " Divide et impera,"
had split up the country among no fewer than twenty
princes. Of these some had been Assyrians, but the
greater part natives. A Necho (Neku), the grand-
father of the antagonist of Josiah, had held the first

* The opinion of scholars varies between B. c. 625 and B. c. 610.

'"Ancient Monarchies," vol. ii., p. 232.

^ Lenormant, " Manuel d'Histoire Ancienne," vol. ii., pp. 377, 378.

NOTICES IN THE SECOND BOOK OF KINGS. 273

place among the twenty, being assigned the govern-
ments of Memphis and Sais, together with almost the
whole of the Western Delta. He had been succeeded
after a time by his son Psamatik, the Psammetichus
of the Greeks, who had taken advantage of the grow-
ing weakness of Assyria during the later half of the
seventh century to raise the standard of revolt, and
had succeeded, by the assistance of Gyges, king of
Lydia, and of numerous Greek and Carian mercena-
ries, in establishing his own independence and uniting
all Egypt under his sway. A period of great pros-
perity had then set in. Psamatik I., a prudent, and at
the same time a brave and warlike, prince, raised
Egypt from a state of extreme depression to a height
which she had only previously reached under the
Osirtasens, the Thothmeses, and the Ramessides.
During the rapid decline and decay of Assyrian power
which followed upon the death of Asshur-bani-pal
(b.c. 626), he extended his sway over Philistia and
Phoenicia, thus resuming the policy of aggression
upon Asia which had been laid aside, at any rate from
the time of Sheshonk. The opportunity seemed good
for re-establishing Egyptian influence in this quarter,
now that Assyria was approaching her end, and Baby-
lon not yet established as her successor.

The " Pharaoh-Necho " of the present notice is
undoubtedly Neku II., the son and successor of
Psamatik I. and the grandson of the first Neku. He
succeeded his father in B.C. 611 or 610, and held the
throne till B.C. 595 or 594. He left behind him a
iS

274 £A^ yL ON AND EGYPT.

high character for courage and enterprise. " We
must see in him," says Dr. Wiedemann/ " according
to the narratives of the Greek historians, one of the
most enterprising and excellent sovereigns of all
Egyptian antiquity." After two or three years of
preparation for war, he led his forces into Palestine by
the coast road commonly followed by his prede-
cessors, through Philistia and Sharon to Megiddo, on
the high ground separating the plain of Sharon from
that of Esdraelon. Here, on a battle-field celebrated
alike in ancient and in modern times, he was con-
fronted by Josiah, the Jewish monarch, who had
recently united under his sway the greater portion of
the two kingdoms of Israel and Judah.^ Necho,
according to the author of Chronicles, endeavoured
to avoid engaging his troops, first by assuring him
that his quarrel was not with him, but with the royal
house of Babylon (2 Chron. xxxiii. 21), and then by
urging that he had received a Divine commission to
attack his enemy. Assertions of this kind were prob-
ably not unusual in the mouths of Egyptian princes,
who regarded themselves as the favourites of Heaven,
sons of the sun, and under constant Divine protection.
We have an example in Piankhi, one of the Ethiopian
monarchs of Egypt, who, when marching against the
native princes that had revolted from him, declares,^
" I am born of the loins, created from the ^g^, of the

^ " Geshichte ^gyptens von Psammetich I. bis auf Alexander den
Grossen," p. 147.

2 2 Kings xxiii. 15-19; 2 Chron. xxxiv. 6-9.
3" Records of the Past," vol. ii., p. 91, 1, 69.

NOTICES IN THE SECOND BOOK OF KINGS. 275

Deity. ... I have not acted without His knowing :
He ordained that I should [so] act." Neither argu-
ment had any effect on the resolution of the Jewish
king ; he probably deemed himself bound, as a faithful
vassal, to bar the way of his suzerain's enemy ; and
Necho, finding him thus resolved, was compelled to
engage his forces. The battle, commonly known as
that of Megiddo, seems to be mentioned by Hero-
dotus^ as the battle of Magdolum, wherein he says
that Neko (Necho) defeated the " Palestinian Syrians,"
which appears to be his name for the Jews. There is
reason to believe that the chief adversaries of the
Jews on this occasion were the Greek and Carian mer-
cenaries in the Egyptian service, since Necho was so
pleased at their behaviour that he sent the arms which
he had worn in the battle as an offering to a Greek
temple in Asia Minor.

The success of Necho in detaching Syria from the
Babylonian empire, and attaching it to his own,
implied in the narrative of Kings, and in Jer. xlvi. 2,
is alluded to in a fragment of Berosus.^ Berosus, as
a Babylonian, ignores Necho's independent position,
and speaks of him as the " satrap " of the western
provinces, who had caused them to " revolt." He
regards the '' revolt " as extending to Egypt, Syria,
and Phoenicia, and as lasting until, in B.C. 605, Nebu-
chadnezzar was sent by his father to re-establish the
dominion of Babylon in the far west.

1 Herod, ii. 159.

^Beros. in the " Fragm. Hist. Gr." of C. Miiller, vol. ii. Fr. 14.

CHAPTER XXI.

NOTICES OF EGYPT IN ISAIAH.

" The burden of Egypt. Behold, the Lord rideth upon a swift cloud,
and shall come into Egypt ; and the idols of Egypt shall be moved at
His presence, and the heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst of it.
And I will set the Egyptians against the Egyptians ; and they shall
fight every one against his brother, and every one against his neighbour ;
city against city, and kingdom against kingdom. And the spirit of
Egypt shall fail in the midst thereof: and they shall seek to the idols,
and to the charmers, and to them that have familiar spirits, and to the
wizards. And the Egyptians will I give over into the hands of a cruel
lord ; and a fierce king shall rule over them, saith the Lord, the Lord
of hosts. . . . Surely the princes of Zoan are fools ; the counsel of the
wise counsellors of Pharaoh is become brutish ; how say ye unto
Pharaoh, I am the son of the wise, the son of ancient kings ? Where
are they ? where are thy wise men ? and let them tell thee now, and
let them know what the Lord hath pui-posed upon Egypt. The princes
of Zoan are become fools, the princes of Noph are deceived ; they
have also seduced Egypt, even they that are the stay of the tribes
thereof." — IsA. xix. 1-13. -

It was a principal part of the mission of Isaiah during
the reign of Hezekiah to dissuade the Jews from
placing their dependence on Egypt in the struggle
wherein they were engaged, with the prophet's entire
consent and approval, against the Assyrians. Egypt,
276

NOTICES IN ISAIAH. 277

it was revealed to him, was no sure stay, no trust-
worthy ally, no powerful protector ; she would fail in
time of need, either unwilling or unable to give
effectual help. (See ch. xx. 6; xxx. 3, 7 ; xxxi. 1-3.)
Nor was this the worst. So long as king and people
put their trust in an " arm of flesh," and did not rely
upon God, God's arm was straitened, and he could
not work the miraculous deliverance, which He was
prepared to work, ''because of their unbelief" Isaiah's
prophecies with respect to Egypt are thus, almost
entirely, depreciatory and denunciatory. He is bent on
showing that she is a power on whom no dependence
can be wisely placed, in the hope that he may thereby
prevent Hezekiah and his princes from contracting
any alliance with the Egyptian monarch.

In this first prophecy he announces two calamities
as about to befall Egypt, either of which is sufficient
to render her an utterly worthless ally. The first of
these calamities is civil war. The Egyptians are about
to " fight every one against his brother, and every one
against his neighbour; city against city, and kingdom
against kingdom." It is a remarkable illustration of
this prophecy to find, as we do, from an inscription of
Piankhi-Merammon,^ that about B.C. 735 Egypt was
divided up among no fewer than twenty-two princes,
of whom four bore the title of " king," and that a civil
war raged among them for some considerable time.
Tafnekht, prince of Sais, began the disturbance by a

^ See "Records of the Past," vol. ii., pp. 81-104; and compare
Brugsch, " Geschichte i^gyptens," pp. 682-707,

278 BAB YL ON AND EGYPT.

series of skilfully arranged encroachments upon his
neighbours. *' During several years he laid siege
successively to the fortresses which were held by the
independent militaiy chiefs and the petty princes of
the western portion of Lower Egypt. Once master
of all the territory to the west of the middle branch
of the Nile, Tafnekht, respecting the dominion of the
dynasty of Tanis over the Eastern Delta, proceeded
to mount the stream, in order to make himself master
of Central Egypt, and even with the intention of
essaying the conquest of Upper Egypt, which was in
the possession of the Ethiopian kings of Napata at
this period. The stronghold of Meri-tum, now Mey-
doum, the district of Lake Moeris, the city of Hera-
cleopolis, with its king Pefaabast, and that of Hermo-
polis, with its king Osorkon, recognised his authority
as sovereign. He also made himself master of
Aphroditopolis, and, pursuing his career of success,
was in course of conquering the canton of Ouab, with
its capital, Pa-matsets, when the chiefs of the upper
and lower country who had not yet bowed their heads
to his yoke invoked the aid of the Ethiopian mon-
arch." ^ Piankhi gladly responded to the call, and in
the course of one or two campaigns succeeded in
despoiling Tafnekht of all his conquests, and in
restoring Egypt to tranquillity. He then reigned for
some years in peace ; but at his death disturbances
broke out afresh. Bocchoris, or Bok-en-ranf, who
succeeded Tafnekht at Sais, had a reign as troubled

1 Lenormant, " Manuel d'Histoive Ancienne," vol. ii. p. 344.

NOTICES IN ISAIAH. 279

as his predecessor's. " It was," says M. Lenormant/
"an incessant struggle against the petty princes, a
continuous series of wars, first for the subjection of
the Delta and Central Egypt, nay, even temporarily of
the Thebaid, and then for the preservation of his con-
quests, and the maintenance with much difficulty of a
precarious dominion." In the end Bocchoris suc-
cumbed to Shabak, the successor of Piankhi, who
punished his rebellion, as he considered it, by burning
him alive.^ A third occasion of civil war, belonging
to a somewhat later date, is mentioned by Herodotus.
Psammetichus, the founder of the twenty-sixth dynasty,
had to contend, according to this author,^ with eleven
of his brother princes before he succeeded in uniting
all Egypt under his sceptre. Briefly, it may be said
that Egypt from about B.C. 735 to B.C. 650, suffered
from a continued series of civil wars, which rendered
her exceptionally weak, and caused her to fall an easy
prey alternately to the Ethiopians and the Assyrians.

The other calamity prophesied is that of conquest
by a foreign king of a fierce and cruel temper. *' The
Egyptians will I give over into the hands of a cruel
lord ; and a fierce king shall rule over them, saith the
Lord " (ver. 4). The Egyptian and Assyrian records
show that, between the years B.C. 750 and B.C. 650,
Egypt was conquered at least five times, and was ruled
by at least eight foreign monarchs. The first con-

1 Lenormant, "Manuel d'Histoire Ancienne," vol. ii., p. 349.

2 Manetho" ap. JSyncell., "Chronograph.," p. 74, b.

3 Herod., ii. 152.

28o BAB YL ON AND EGYPT.

quest — that of Piankhi Merammon — was certainly not
a subjection to a " fierce and cruel lord," for Piankhi
was a remarkably mild and clement prince, who did
not even punish rebellion with any severity.^ Shabak,
the next conqueror after Piankhi, was cruel ; but he
can scarcely be the monarch intended, since he was
accepted as a legitimate Pharaoh ; the " princes of
Zoan and Noph " were his counsellors; and, if the
prophecy touches him at all, it is as the deceived and
misled Pharaoh of ver. ii,not as the ''fierce king"
of ver. 4. The same may be said of his successors,
Shabatok and Tirhakah, who were closely connected
with Noph (Napata), and were recognised as legitimate
Pharaoh's. It is to an Assyrian, not to an Ethiopian,
conqueror that the prophecy must refer, and hence
doubtless the introduction of Assyria by name into
the later part of the prophecy, which in a certain sense
balances the earlier (vers. 23-25). Two successive
Assyrian monarchs conquered Egypt, Esar-haddon
and Asshur-bani-pal. Either of the two would corres-
pond well to the description of the " fierce king and
cruel lord." Esar-haddon, who had Manasseh brought
before him with a hook passed through his jaws (2
Chron. xxxiii. 1 1), who broke up Egypt into twenty
governments and changed the names of the towns,^
who usually executed rebels, and is said by his son to
have appointed governors over the various provinces
of Egypt for the express purpose of slaying and plun-

^ Rawlinson, «* History of Ancient Egypt," vol. ii., p. 443.
^ G. Smith, " Hisloiy of Asshur-bani-pal," pp. 34, 35.

NOTICES IN ISAIAH. 281

dering its people/ was certainly a severe and harsh
monarch, who might well answer to the description of
Isaiah; and Asshur-bani-pal, his successor, who rivetted
the Assyrian yoke on the reluctant country, was a yet
more cruel and relentless tyrant. Asshur-bani-pal
burnt alive his own brother, Saul-Mugina, caused
several of his prisoners to be chained and flayed, tore
out the tongues of others by the roots, punished many
by mutilation, and was altogether the most cruel and
bloodthirsty of all the Assyrian monarchs of whom
any record has come down to us.^ It is probably his
conquest of Egypt in B.C. 668-666 which Isaiah's
prophecy announces, though it is quite possible that
Isaiah may have himself expected an earlier accom-
plishment of the prediction.'^

" In the year that Tartan came unto Ashdod, when Sargon, the king
of Assyria, sent him, and fought against Ashdod, and took it, at the
same time spake the Lord by Isaiah, the son of Amoz, saying, Go and
loose the sackcloth from off thy loins, and put ofif thy shoe from thy
foot. And he did so, walking naked and barefoot. And the Lord
said, Like as my servant Isaiah hath walked naked and barefoot three
years for a sign and wonder upon Egypt and upon Ethiopia, so shall
the king of Assyria lead away the Egyptians prisoners, and the Ethio-
pians captives, young and old, naked and barefoot, even with their
buttocks uncovered, to the shame of Egypt. And they shall be afraid
and ashamed of Ethiopia their expectation, and of Egypt their glory.
And the inhabitant of this isle shall say in that day, Behold, such is
our expectation, whither we flee for help to be delivered from the king
of Assyria: and how shall we escape? " — IsA. xx. 1-6.

1 G. Smith, " History of Asshur-bani-pal," p. 16. »

2 See "Ancient Monarchies," vol. ii., p. 206.

8 As Mr. Cheyne supposes : " Comment on Isaiah," vol. i., pp. J 1 2, 1 1 3.

282 BAB YLON AND EG YPT.

The general warning contained in Isaiah's " burden
of Egypt " failed altogether of its intended effect. In
Israel Hoshea, about B.C. 724, entered into alliance
with Shabak (So), and thereby provoked the ruin
which fell both on himself and his country. The
lesson was lost on Hezekiah and his counsellors, who,
as the attitude of the Assyrians became more and
more threatening, inclined more and more to follow
Hoshea's example and place themselves under the
protection of Egypt. Egj^pt was at this time, as
already explained, closely connected with Ethiopia,
which under Piankhi, Shabak, Shabatok, and Tirhakah,
exercised the rights of a suzerain power, permitting,
however, to certain native Egyptian princes a delegated
sovereignty. Hence the close connection in which we
find Ethiopia and Egypt placed in the present pro-
phecy. In the year that the Assyrian Tartan, or
commander-in-chief, took Ashdod, having been
assigned the task by Sargon, king of Assyria, the
successor of Shalmaneser IV., and father of Sennach-
erib — probably the year B.C. 714 — Isaiah was directed
to renew his warning against trust in these African
powers They had become the ** glory " and the
" expectation " of his countrymen, whither they were
ready to *' flee for help " (vers. 5, 6). In order to
impress the Jews with the folly of their vain hopes,
Isaiah was instructed to announce. a coming victory
of Assyria over combined Egypt and Ethiopia, the
result of which would be a great removal of captives,
belonging to both nations, from the banks of the Nile

NOTICES IN ISAIAH. 283

to those of the Tigris, to the great " shame " of the
conquered and the great glory of the conquerors. To
arrest the attention of his nation, he was to take the
garb of a prisoner himself, and to go barefoot and
"naked," i.e.^ clad in a single scant tunic, for three
years, at the end of which time his prophecy would
be accomplished. The prophecy seems to have had
its first accomplishment when, in B.C. 711, Ashdod
revolted from Assyria, under promise of support from
the Ethiopian Pharaoh of the period, and was cap-
tured, with its garrison, which is likely to have con-
sisted in part of Egyptians and Ethiopians. We are
expressly told that the prisoners were on this occa-
sion transported into Assyria, their place being supplied
by captives taken in some of Sargon's eastern wars.^

Ten years later, in the reign of Sennacherib, there
was another occasion of collision between Assyria and
Egypt in a war provoked by the revolt of Ekron. In
the battle of Eltekeh (b.c. 701) both Ethiopians and
Egyptians are expressly declared to have been
engaged, and many prisoners of both nations to have
been taken.^ These were, no doubt, carried off by
the conqueror.

Later, in the wars of Esar-haddon and Asshur-bani-
pal with Tirhakah, there must have been numerous
occasions of a similar kind.^ The entire course of the

^"Ancient Monarchies," vol. ii., p. 147.
2 "Records of the Past," vol. i., pp. 36, 37.

3 See Mr. George Smith's "History of Asshur-bani pal," pp. 16, 19,
23, 54, etc.

284 BAB YL ON AND EG YPT.

Struggle between Assyria on the one hand and
Ethiopia and Egypt on the other was adverse to
the latter peoples until the strength of Assyria col-
lapsed at home, and she (about B.C. 650) withdrew
her forces from Egypt to the defence of her own
territory.

" Woe to the rebellious children, saith the L ord, that take counsel,
but not of Me; and that cover with a covering, but not of My Spirit,
that they may add sin to sin, that walk to go down into Egypt, and
have not asked at My mouth, to strengthen themselves in the strength
of Pharaoh, and to trust in the shadow of Egypt ! Therefore shall the
strength of Pharaoh be your shame, and the trust in the shadow of
Egypt your confusion. For his princes were at Zoan, and his ambassa-
dors came to Hanes. They were all ashamed of a people that could
not profit them, nor be a help nor profit, but a shame and also a
reproach. The burden of the beasts of the south : into the land of
trouble and anguish, from whence come the young and old lion, the
viper and fiery flying serpent, they will carry their riches upon the
shoulders of young asses, and their treasures upon the bunches of
camels, to a people that shall not profit them. For the Egyptians shall
help in vain, and to no purpose ; therefore have I cried concerning this.
Their strength is to sit still." — IsA. xxx. 1-7.

" Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help ; and stay on horses,
and trust in chariots, because they are many ; and in horsemen, because
they are very strong; but they look not unto the Holy One of Israel,
neither seek the Lord ! . . . Now the Egyptians are men, and not God,
and their horses flesh, and not spirit. When the Lord shall stretch out
His hand, both he that helpeth shall fall, and he that is helper -shall fall
down, and they all shall fall together. For thus hath the Lord spoken
unto me. Like as the lion and the young lion roaring on his prey, when
a multitude of shepherds is called forth against him, he will not be
afraid of their voice nor abase himself for the noise of them ; so shall
the Lord of hosts come down to fight for Mount Zion and for the hill
thereof. As birds flying, so will the Lord of hosts defend Jerusalem ;
... He will preserve it." — IsA. xxxi. 1-5.

NOTICES IN ISAIAH. 285

Matters have now progressed a stage. Isaiah's
warnings are not only unheeded, but set at nought.
Alarmed at the advances that Sennacherib has made
and is making, convinced, not perhaps without reason,
that the policy of Assyria is to leave him the mere
shadow of independence, Hezekiah has taken the final
plunge. Declining to ask counsel of God's prophet
(ver. i), he has sent ambassadors of high rank (ver. 4),
accompanied by a train of camels and asses, laden with
rich presents (ver. 6), to the court of the vassal
Pharaoh to whom is committed the government of
Lower Egypt. " His " (/. e., Hezekiah's) ** princes are
at Zoan " (Tanis) ; *' his ambassadors have come to
Hanes." He has made application for a force of
chariots and cavalry (ch. xxxvi. 9). He has probably
sent a prayer to the Ethiopian suzerain of the country,
requesting him to move to his relief The thing is
done, and cannot be undone ; and it remains only for the
prophet to make a declaration, first, that it has been
done against God's will (vers, i, 9, 12), and secondly,
that it will be of no avail — nothing will come of it —
the Egyptians will give no effectual help (vers. 5, 7).
The historical chapters of Isaiah, especially chapters
xxxvi. and xxxvii., are the sequel to this intimation.
They show that Hezekiah received no help at all from
the subordinate Pharaoh, who was probably Shabatok,
and that though Tirhakah did move on his behalf
(ch. xxxvii. 9), yet that he neither engaged the forces
of Sennacherib, nor seriously troubled him. The relief
of Hezekiah, and the relief of Egypt itself— whose

286 BAB YL ON AND E G YFT.

subjection to Assyria was thereby deferred for a gen-
eration — came from another quarter. When Hezekiah
gave up his trust in any arm of flesh, and made his
appeal to God, spreading before Him the blasphemous
letter of Sennacherib (ibid., vers. 14-20), then Isaiah
was commissioned to assure him of a miraculous
deliverance. " Then " (" that night," 2 Kings xix. 35)
" the angel of the Lord went forth, and smote in the
camp of the Assyrians an hundred and fourscore and
five thousand : and when they arose early in the
morning, behold, they were all dead corpses " (Isa.
xxxvii. 36). The deliverance itself, and its miraculous,
or at any rate its marvellous character, was acknowl-
edged by the Egyptians, no less than by the Israelites.
When, two hundred and fifty years afterwards, Hero-
dotus visited Egypt, he was informed that ** Senna-
cherib, king of the Arabians and Assyrians, having
marched a great army into Egypt, was met at Pelusium
by the Egyptian monarch. As the two hosts lay
there opposite one another, there came in the night a
number of field-mice, which devoured all the quivers
and bow strings of the enemy, and ate the thongs by
which they managed their shields. Next morning
they commenced their flight, and great multitudes fell,
as they had no arms with which to defend themslves." *

" In that day shall five cities in the land of Egypt speak the language
of Canaan, and swear to the Lord of hosts; one shall be called the
city of destruction. In that day shall there be an altar to the Lord in
the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar at the border thereof to

1 Herod, ii, 141.

NOTICES IN ISAIAH. 287

the Lord. And it shall be for a sign and for a witness unto the Lord
of hosts in the land of Egypt : for they shall cry unto the Lord because
of the oppressors, and He shall send them a saviour, and a great one,
and he shall deliver them. And the Lord shall be known to Egypt,
and the Egyptians shall know the Lord in that day, and shall do sacri-
fice and oblation ; yea, they shall vow a vow unto the Lord, and
perform it. And the Lord shall smite Egypt : He shall smite and heal
it ; and they shall return even to the Lord, and He shall be entreated
of them, and He shall heal them." — Isa. xix. 18-22.

This prophecy has been called a mere expression of
Isaiah's earnest wish for the conversion of Egypt to
the worship of the true God,^ but it is at any rate a
wish which had a remarkable fulfilment. About the
year B.C. 170, Onias, the son of Onias III., the high-
priest, quitted Palestine, and sought refuge with
Ptolemy Philometor, who readily protected him on
account of the hostility between the two royal houses
of Egypt and of Syria. While a refugee at his court,
Onias, regarding the position of his brethren in Pales-
tine, oppressed by Antiochus Epiphanes, as well-nigh
hopeless, conceived the idea of founding and main-
taining a temple in Egypt itself, which should be free
from the corruptions then creeping in at Jerusalem,
and should be a rallying-point to the Jewish nation,
should the temple on Mount Zion be destroyed or
made a heathen fane. Under these circumstances he
made appeal to Ptolemy and his wife Cleopatra for the
grant of a site. '* In the district of Heliopolis, a part
of Egypt already consecrated by the memory of
Moses (Gen. xli. 45), he had observed a spot where

^ Stanley, " Lectures on the Jewish Church." Am. Ed., vol. iii., p. 223.

288 BAB YL ON A ND EGYPT.

a sanctuary of Bubastis (Pasht), a goddess of the
country, was languishing among the thousand other
Egyptian sanctuaries. This place he requested for
himself, and it was reported that Ptolemy granted it
with the jesting remark that he wondered how Onias
could think of making a sanctuary out of a spot
which, though inhabited by sacred animals, was yet in
the Judaean sense polluted, for the animals were
among those reckoned unclean by the Judaeans. In
the sanctuary itself was placed an altar resembling that
at Jerusalem. Instead of the seven-lighted candle-
stick, which seems to have been regarded as too holy
to be imitated, a single golden lamp was suspended in
it by a golden chain. The sacred house was built
somewhat in the form of a tower " — the general style
of the building being apparently not Jewish, but
Egyptian * — " the fore-court was enclosed with a wall
of brick and gates of stone, and the whole of the
fortified little town, with the district which gathered
round the temple, was probably called Oneion."^

This temple continued to exist from B.C. 170 to B.C.
73, when it was destroyed by the Romans. It was
greatly venerated by the bulk of the Egyptian Jews,
who brought thither their sacrifices and their offerings.
Jews flocked to the towns in its neighbourhood ; and
it may well be, though the actual fact cannot be
proved, that then at least " five cities in the land of

^ Stanley, " Lectures on the Jewish Church, Am. Ed., vol. iii., p. 222.
"Ewald, "History of Israel," vol. v., p. 356, E. T. Compare
Joseph., "Ant. Jud.," xiii. 3, ^ 2,

NOTICES IN ISAIAH. 289

Egypt spoke " (Hebrew) " the language of Canaan," one
of them being Ir-ha-kheres, " the city of the sun," the
ancient Heliopolis.^ At the same time the great
synagogue of Alexandria, at the extreme "border" of
the land, where it was most commonly approached by
strangers, stood '* as a pillar " (ch. xix. 19) " for a sign
and for a witness unto the Lord of hosts," showine
that Jehovah was worshipped in the land openly, and
with the goodwill of the Government, and indicating
that Egypt — so long Jehovah's enemy — had been at
least partially, converted to His service.

1 See Mr. R. S. Poole's article on IR-HA-HERES in Smith's "Diet,
of the Bible," vol. i., p. 870.

19

CHAPTER XXII.

NOTICES OF EGYPT IN JEREMIAH AND EZEKIEL.

The prophecies of Jeremiah have suffered greatly by
disarrangement ; and the historical notices which they
contain, more especially those that concern Egypt, are
wholly out of their proper chronological order. We
propose, therefore, to follow the actual order of time
rather than that of Jeremiah's chapters according to
our translators' arrangement,^ and we consequently
commence with one of the latest of his notices,
namely, that contained in the earlier portion of his
forty-sixth chapter : —

" The word of the Lord which came to Jeremiah the prophet against
the Gentiles, against Eg)-pt, against the army of Pharaoh-Necho, king
of Egypt, which was by the river Euphrates in Carchemish, which
Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, smote in the fourth year of Jehoia-
kim, the son of Josiah, king of Judah. Order ye the buckler and
shield, and draw near to battle. Harness the horses ; and get up, ye
horsemen, and stand forth with your helmets ; furbish the spears, and
put on the brigandines. Wherefore have I seen them dismayed and
turned away back ? and their mighty ones are beaten down, and are fled
apace, and look not back : for fear was round about, saith the Lord.

1 Our translators follbw the Hebrew. The Septuagint arrangement is
quite different.
290

NOTICES IN JEREMIAH AND EZEKIEL. 291

Let not the swift flee away, nor the mighty man escape ; they shall
stumble and fall towards the north, by the river Euphrates. Who is
this that Cometh up as a flood, whose watei-s are moved as the rivers ?
Egypt riseth up like a flood, and his waters are moved like the rivers ,
and he saith, I will go up and cover the earth ; I will destroy the city
and the inhabitants thereof. Come up, ye horses, and rage, ye chariots ;
and let the mighty men come forth ; the Ethiopians and the Libyans,
that handle the shield ; and the Lydians, that handle and bend the bow.
For this is the day of the Lprd God of hosts, a day of vengeance, that
he may avenge him of his adversaries ; and the sword shall devour, and
it shall be satiate and made drunk with their blood ; for the Lord God
of hosts hath a sacrifice in the north countiy by the river Euphrates.
Go up into Gilead, and take balm, O virgin, the daughter of Egypt ; in
vain shalt thou use many medicines ; for thou shalt not be cured. The
nations have heard of thy shame, and thy cry hath filled the land ; for
the mighty man hath stumbled against the mighty, and they are fallen
both together." — Jer. xlvi. 1-12.

In this passage we have the fullest account that has
come down to us of one of the most important among
the " decisive battles of the world." The contending
powers are Egypt and Babylon, the contending princes
Neko (Pharaoh-Necho), the son of Psamatik I., and
Nebuchadnezzar, the son of Nabopolassar — the
founder of the second empire of the Chaldaeans. We
have already seen^ how Neko, having (in B.C. 608)
defeated Josiah, king of Judah, at Megiddo, on the
border of the great plain of Esdraelon, pressed for-
ward to meet the " house with which he had war at
Carchemish by Euphrates" (2 Chron. xxxv. 20).
Complete success for the time attended his expedition.
He made himself master of the whole tract of terri-

^See p. 271.

292

BAB YL ON AND EG YFT.

tory intervening between the ** river of Egypt" (Wady-
el-Arish) on the one hand and the river Euphrates on
the other (2 Kings xxiv. 7). Syria in its widest extent,
Phoenicia, Philistia, and Judaea submitted to him. It
seemed as if the days of the Thothmeses and Amen-
hoteps were about to return, and Egypt to be once
more the predominant power in the Eastern world,
the " lady of nations," the sovereign at one and the
same time of Africa and of Asia. Had Babylon
acquiesced in the loss of territory, her prestige would
have been gone, and her empire would probably have
soon crumbled into dust. Egypt and Media would
have stood face to face as the two rivals for supremacy ;
and possibly the entire course of the world's later
history might have been changed.

But Nabopolassar appreciated aright the importance
of the crisis, and before Egypt had had time to con-
solidate her power in the newly conquered provinces,
resolved on making a great effort to recover them. In
the year b. c. 605 — three years after Neko's great succes3
— having collected his troops and made his prepara-
tions, he sent his son and heir, Nebuchadnezzar, at the
head of a large army, to reconquer the lost territory.
Nebuchadnezzar marched upon Carchemish, the strong
frontier fortress near the Euphrates, which had origin-
ally been the capital of the early Hittite kingdom, and
the site of which is now marked by the ruins called
"Jerablus" or "Jerabus."^ Here he found Neko
encamped at the head of a considerable force, in part,

^ Sayce, ** Ancient Empires of the East," American Edition, p. 214.

NOTICES IN JEREMIAH AND EZEKIEL. 293

no doubt, Egyptians, but mainly Ethiopians, Libyans,
and Greco-Carians from Asia Minor, perhaps the
" Lydians " of Jeremiah (ver. 9).^ The battle poetic-
ally described by Jeremiah was fought. The Egyp-
tian force of foot, horse, and chariots was completely
defeated; a great carnage took place (ver. 10); and
the few survivors fled away in dismay (ver. 5), evac-
uating province after province, and retiring within
their own frontier. Nebuchadnezzar followed on their
traces, at least as far south as Jerusalem, where he
received the submission of Jehoiakim (2 Kings xxiv.
i), and from which he carried off a portion of the
temple treasures (Dan. i. i). He would probably have
gone further and invaded Egypt had not news reached
him (late in B.C. 605) of his father's decease, which
necessitated his own immediate return to his capital.
Accompanied by a small force lightly equipped, he
crossed the desert by way of Damascus and Tadmor,
while the heavy-armed troops, the baggage, and the
prisoners made their way to Babylon by the usual but
circuitous route, down the valley of the Orontes, across
Northern Syria to Carchemish, and then along the
banks of the Euphrates.

We have one profane account of this expedition,
entering far less into details than Jeremiah, but in
complete accord with his statements, and supplying

^"Lud" in the Hebrew Scriptures ordinarily designates an African
people (see Gen. x. 13; i Chron. i. 11 ; Isa. Ixvi. 19; Ezek. xxx. 5).
But here the "Lydians" may be meant. Gyges had furnished the
original Greco-Carian force.

294 BAB YL ON AND EGYPT.

various points of interest, which have been worked
into the above narrative. The Babylonian historian,
Berosus,^ as quoted by Josephus, says, speaking of
Nebuchadnezzar: "When his father, Nabopolassar,
heard that the satrap appointed to govern Egypt, and
the districts of Coelesyria and Phoenicia, had revolted
from him, as he was not himself able any longer to
endure hardships, he assigned a certain portion of his
army to his son, Nebuchadnezzar, who was in the
flower of his youth, and sent him against the rebel.
And when Nebuchadnezzar had fallen in with him,
and engaged him in battle, he defeated him, and from
this beginning proceeded to bring the country under
his own rule. Now it chanced that his father, Nabo-
polassar, just at this time fell sick, and departed this
life, having reigned one-and-twenty years. Nebuchad-
nezzar shortly after heard of his father's decease, and,
having arranged the affairs of Egypt and the other
countries, and appointed certain of his friends to con-
duct to Babylon the captives which he had taken from
the Jews, the Phoenicians, the Syrians, and the parts
about Egypt, together with the heavy-armed troops
and the baggage, started himself with a very small
escort, and, travelling by the way of the wilderness,
reached Babylon.

" The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah the prophet against
the Philistines, before that Pharaoh smote Gaza. Thus saith the Lord,
Behold, waters rise up out of the north, and shall be an overflowing
flood, and shall overflow the land, and all that is therein ; the city and

1 Fr. 14 in the " Fr. Hist. Gr." of C. Muller, vol. ii., p. 506.

NOTICES IN JEREMIAH AND EZEKIEL. 295

them that dwell therein ; then the men shall cry, and all the inhabitants
of the land shall howl. At the noise of the stamping of the hoofs of
his strong horses, at the rushing of his chariots, and at the rumbling of
his wheels, the fathers shall not look back to their children for feeble-
ness of hands ; because of the day that cometh to spoil all the Philis-
tines, and to cut off from Tyrus and Zidon every helper that remaineth ;
for the Lord will spoil the Philistines, the remnant of the country of
Caphtor. Baldness is come upon Gaza ; Ashkelon is cut off with the
remnant of their valley : how long wilt thou cut thyself? O thou sword
of the Lord, how long will it be ere thou be quiet ? Put up thyself into
thy scabbard ; rest and be still. How can it be quiet, seeing the Lord
hath given it a charge against Ashkelon, and against the sea-shore ?
There hath He appointed it."-— Jer. xlvii. I-7.

We are, first of all, informed here that a certain
prophecy was delivered, " before that Pharaoh smote
Gaza." In this statement it is implied that, at some
date in the ministry of Jeremiah, the strong Philistine
town of Gaza (Jud. xvi. 1-3) was taken by a king of
Egypt. Now the kings of Egypt contemporary with
Jeremiah's ministry would seem to have been Psamatik
I., Neko, Psamatik II., and Uaphra or " Pharaoh-
Hophra." Does it appear from profane sources that
Gaza was besieged and taken by any one of these
monarchs ?

This question may be answered in the affirmative.
Herodotus tells us that after the battle of Magdolum
(Megiddo), Neko took " Kadytis," a large city in
Syria.^ This Kadytis he afterwards describes as lying
upon the coast between Phoenicia and Lake Serbonis.^
It was at one time identified with Jerusalem, because

1 Herod., ii. 159. 2 jbid., iii. 5.

296 BAB YL ON AND E G YPT.

the Arabs call that city " Al Kods " — " the Holy " ;
and more recently it has been conjectured to represent
the Hittite city of " Cadesh " on the Orontes ; ^ but its
position on or near the sea militates against both these
hypotheses. Gaza is called " Gazetu " in the hiero-
glyphical inscriptions of Egypt,^ and " Khazitu " in
the cuneiform inscriptions of Assyria, of which forms
" Kadytis " is a fair rendering. Hence recent editors
of Herodotus regard it as " plain " that the Kadytis,
which he says that Neko took, was Gaza.^

It is doubtful whether the remainder of the prophecy
refers in any way to Egypt. The " waters that rise up
out of the north " are usually taken by the commen-
tators for the army of Nebuchadnezzar, either when
he invaded Syria after the battle of Carchemish (b. c.
605), or subsequently when he advanced to the sieges
of Jerusalem and Tyre (b.c. 598). The description in
ver. 3 would suit a Babylonian army as well as an
Egyptian, and the characteristic of " noise " seems to
belong to Babylon especially (chs. iv. 29; viii. 16;
Ezek. xxvi. 10). There is not, however, any distinct
evidence that Nebuchadnezzar at any time led a hostile
expedition into Philistia, while we know of Neko that
he did so ; and as his expedition seems to have been
made on his return from Carchemish, his army would
on this occasion have " risen up out of the north "

^Lenormant, "Manuel d'Histoire Ancienne," vol. ii., p. 391.
'^''Records of the Past," vol. ii., p. 115; Brugseh, «*Geschichte
CEgyptens," p. 295.

^ Sayce, "Ancient Empires," American Edition, p. 55.

NOTICES IN JEREMIAH AND EZEKIEL. 297

(ver. 2). The note of time in ver. i is also more apposite
if Neko's expedition is intended, since the prophet
would then have inserted the date, in order to draw-
attention to the fact that his prophecy of a great inva-
sion of Philistia was delivered before the event.

" And King Zedekiah, the son of Josiah, reigned instead of Coniah,
the son of Jehoiakim. . . . Then Pharaoh's army was come forth out
of Egypt; and when the Chaldaeans that besieged Jerusalem heard
tidings of them, they departed from Jerusalem. Then came the word
of the Lord unto the prophet Jeremiah, saying. Thus saith the Lord,
the God of Israel, Thus shall ye say unto the king of Judah, that sent
you to inquire of me, Behold, Pharaoh's army, which is come forth to
help you, shall return to Egypt into their own land. And the Chal-
dseans shall come again, and fight against this city, and take it, and
burn it with fire." — Jer. xxxvii. i-io.

" He (Zedekiah) rebelled against him (Nebuchadnezzar) in sending
his ambassadors into Egypt, that they might give him horses and much
people. Shall he prosper ? Shall he escape that doeth such things ?
Or shall he break the covenant, and be delivered ? As I live, saith the
Lord, surely in the place v/here the king dwelleth that made him king,
whose oath he despised, even with him in the midst of Babylon he
shall die. Neither shall Pharaoh with his mighty army and great
company make for him in the war, by casting mounts and building
forts, to cut off many persons." — Ezek. xvii. 15-17.

The Pharaoh contemporary with the later years of
Zedekiah, the last king of Judah, who reigned from
B.C. 597 to B.C. 586, was undoubtedly Ua-ap-ra,^ whom
the Greeks called " Apries,"^ and whom Jeremiah in

1 Brugsch (" Geschichte CEgyptens," p. 734) gives the name as
« Uah-ab-ra," Birch ("Egypt from the Earliest Times," p. 180) as
«' Uah-hap-ra."

2 Herod., ii. 161 ; Diod. Sic, i. 68. Manetho, however, calls him
«« Uaphris."

298 BAB YL ON AND EGYPT.

one place speaks of as " Pharaoh-Hophra " (ch. xliv.
30). Apries ascended the throne in B.C. 591, and
reigned alone nineteen years (to B.C. 572), after which
he was for six years more joint-king with Amasis.^ It
would seem that very soon after his accession Zede-
kiah made overtures to him for an alliance (Ezek. xvii.
15), transferring to him the allegiance which he owed
to Babylon, and making a request for a large body of
troops, horse and foot (ibid.). It is in accordance with
the bold and aggressive character assigned to Apries
by the Greeks^ to find that he at once accepted Zede-
kiah's offer, and prepared to bear his part in the war.
" Pharaoh's army went forth out of Egypt " (Jer.
xxxvii. 5) with the object of "helping" Zedekiah
(ibid. ver. 7) ; and the movement was so far successful
that the army of the Chaldaeans, which had commenced
the siege of Jerusalem, ** broke up from before it for
fear of Pharaoh's army " (ibid. ver. 11). Nebuchad-
nezzar, who was directing the siege, marched away to
encounter the Egyptians, and either terrified them into
a retreat, or actually engaged and defeated them.^ The
foundation was thus laid of that enmity between the
two kings which, later in Egyptian history, is found to
have had very important consequences. Apries, for
the time, submitted, and led his army back within his
own frontier, leaving the unfortunate Jewish monarch
to his fate.

* Wiedemann, " Geschichte CEgyptens," p. 121.
2 Herod. 1. s. c. ; Diod. Sic, 1. s. c,

* So Josephus, " Ant. Jud.,*' x, 7, | 3.

NOTICES IN JEREiMIAH AND EZEKIEL. 299

" Then came the word of the Lord unto Jeremiah in Tahpanhes,
saying, Take great stones in thine hand, and hide them in the clay in
the brick-kiln, which is at the entry of Pharaoh's house in Tahpanhes,
in the sight of the men of Judah ; and say unto them, Thus saith the
Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Behold, I will send and take Nebu-
chadnezzar, the king of Babylon, my servant, and will set his throne
upon these stones that I have hid; and he shall spread his royal
pavilion over them. And when he cometh, he shall smite the land of
Egypt, and deliver such as are for death to death ; and such as are for
captivity to captivity; and such as are for the sword to the sword.
And I will kindle a fire in the houses of the gods of Egypt; and
he shall burn them, and carry them away captives; and he shall
array himself with the land of Egypt, as a shepherd putteth on his
garment ; and he shall go forth from thence in peace. He shall break
also the images of Beth-shemesh, that is in the land of Egypt ; and
the houses of the gods of the Egyptians shall he burn with fire." —
Jer. xliii. 8-13.

" The word that the Lord spake to Jeremiah the prophet, how Neb-
uchadnezzar, king of Babylon, should come and smite the land of
Egypt. Declare ye in Egypt, and publish in Migdol, and publish in
Noph and in Tahpanhes ; say ye. Stand fast, and prepare thee ; for the
sword shall devour round about thee. Why are thy valiant men swept
away ? They stood not because the Lord did drive them. He made
many to fall ; yea, one fell upon another ; and they said, Arise, and let
us go again to our own people and to the land of our nativity from the
oppressing sword. They did cry there, Pharaoh, king of Egypt, is but a
noise; he hath passed the time appointed. . . . Othou daughter dwell-
ing in Egypt, furnish thyself to go into captivity ; for Noph shall be waste
and desolate without an inhabitant. Egypt is like a very fair heifer ;
but destruction cometh ; it cometh out of the north. Also her hired
men are in the midst of her like fatted bullocks ; for they also are
turned back and are fled away together; they did not stand, because the
day of their calamity was come upon them, and the time of their visi-
tation. . . . The Lord of hosts, the God of Israel saith, Behold, I will
punish the multitude of No, and Pharaoh, and Eg}'pt, with their gods,
and their kings ; even Pharaoh, and all them that trust in him ; and I
v/ill deliver them into the hand of those that seek their lives, and into

30O

BAB YL ON AND EG YPT.

the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and into the hand of
his servants : and afterward it shall be inhabited, as in the days of old,
saith the Lord." — Jer. xlvi. 13-26.

On the fact of there having been at least one in-
vasion of Egypt by Nebuchadnezzar subsequently
to his capture of Jerusalem in b. c. 586, it is only
necessary to refer the reader to Chapter VII. of this
work. It was there shown that two wholly inde-
pendent documents, one Egyptian, the other Baby-
lonian, prove the invasion to have taken place, while
the Egyptian one, though seeking to minimize the suc-
cess of the invaders, necessarily implies an occupation
of the whole of Egypt. The general Hor, who is
" governor of the regions of the south," admits that
the Asiatics penetrated to the extreme southern border
of Egypt (comp. Ezek. xxix. 10; xxx. 6), and claims
credit for not having " let them adv^ance quite into
Nubia." ^ His account of his careful restoration of
the temple of Kneph at Elephantine ^ indicates that it
had suffered damage at the hands of the invaders, and
is a comment on the expression " the houses of the
gods of the Egyptians shall he burn with fire " (Jer.
xliii. 13). The representation of the army by which
Egypt was defended as one of " hired " men (ibid,
xlvi. 21), who said one to another, when they were
defeated, " Arise, and let us go again to our own people
and to the land of our nativity from the oppressing
sword" (ibid. ver. 16), accords well with all that we

* " Records of the Past," vol. vi., p. 83.
2 Ibid., p. 82, lines 25, 36, 40.

NOTICES IN JEREMIAH AND EZEKIEL. 301

know of the Egyptian military force of the time, which
consisted, not of native soldiers, but of foreign mer-
cenaries, Ethiopians, Libyans, Carians, and Greeks.^
The date of the expedition, Nebuchadnezzar's thirty-
seventh year,^ or b.c. 568, falls exactly into the time
when Apries and Amasis were joint-kings of Egypt,
and explains the apparent discrepancy between the two
documents, one of which speaks of Apries as king,
while the other certainly did not name Apries, and
probably named Amasis. ^ The conjoint reign would
even seem to be indicated by the mention of " kings "
in ch. xlvi. 25.

" I will give Pharaoh-Hophra, king of Egypt, into the hand of his
enemies, and into the hand of them that seek his life, as I gave Zede-
kiah, king of Judah, into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon,
his enemy, and that sought his life." — Jer. xl. 30.

There would seem to be no doubt that this prophecy
was fulfilled to the letter, and that Pharaoh-Hophra
(Ua-apra) fell into the power of his enemies and suf-
fered a violent death. But it is not altogether clear
who these enemies were, or how his death was brought
about. Herodotus relates* that the reverses which
befell him arose out of an unsuccessful expedition
against Cyrene, in which Apries was thought to have

1 Herod, ii. 163 ; Jer. xlvi. 9, etc.

2 " Transactions of Society of Biblical Archaeology," vol. vii., p. 222.

3 The name is partially obliterated, but evidently ended in -su. The
Egyptian name of Amasis, Aahmes, terminated in s. That of Apries,
Ua-ap-ra, contained no s.

♦Herod., ii., 161-163.

302

BAB YLON AND EG YPT.

intentionally sacrificed the lives of some thousands of
his soldiers. A mutiny followed, and Amasis, having
been sent to put it down, was induced to place himself
at its head. The result was a civil war, in which the
rebel chief was successful. Apries fell into his hands,
and was at first treated with kindness, allowed to in-
habit the royal palace ^ and (we must suppose) to retain
the title of king. But after six years, during which
both monarchs reigned, but Amasis alone governed,
dissatisfaction with this condition of things showed
itself among the Egyptians, who persuaded Amasis to
allow them to put Apries to death. The story is not,
intrinsically, very probable ; and it is contradicted by
Josephus, who ascribes the execution of Apries to
Nebuchadnezzar.^ That monarch may not improbably
have borne Apries a grudge on account of the aid
which he gave to Zedekiah, and also of his aggressions
upon the Phoenician cities,^ and, though the adversary
with whom he contended in the field may have been
Amasis, he may yet have let his main vengeance fall
upon Apries, whom he no doubt looked on as a
rebel, as he had looked upon Neko/ Amasis may
have obtained easier terms of peace by the surrender
of his fellow-king, or may even have been allowed to
retain the throne in consequence of his complaisance.
Most probably he accepted the position of a vassal
monarch, a position which he may have retained until
Nabonidus was threatened by Cyrus (b.c. 547), or

1 Herod., ii., 169. 2 "Ant. Jud.," x. 9, § 7.

3 Herod., ii. 161 ; Died. Sic, i. 68. * Berosus, Fr. 14.

NOTICES IN JEREMIAH AND EZEKIEL. 303

even until the fall of Babylon in B.C. 538. During
this period Egypt was a ** base kingdom " (Ezek. xxix.
14), ''the basest of the kingdoms" (ibid. ver. 15), if
its former exaltation was kept in view.

CHAPTER XXIII.

NOTICES OF EGYPT IN DANIEL.

The notices of Egypt in the Book of Daniel have the
peculiarity that they are absolutely and entirely pro-
phetical Daniel is not individually brought into any
contact with Egypt ; nor does Egypt play any part in
the stirring events of the time wherein he lives.
Egypt had, in fact, fallen to the rank of a very second-
rate power after the battle of Carchemish (b. c. 605),
and counted for little in the political struggles of the
time, which had for their locality the great Iranian
plateau, together with the broad valley of the Tigris
and the Euphrates. Daniel, who was contemporary,
as he tells us (chs. i.-vL), with Nebuchadnezzar, Bel-
shazzar, Darius the Mede, and Cyrus the Great, must
have died about B.C. 534, or at any rate before B.C.
529 — the year of Cyrus' decease. His notices of
Egypt belong to a date more than two centuries later.
It is given him to see in vision a sort of sketch of the
history of the world from his own time to the coming
of the Kingdom of the Messiah ; and in this "Apoca-
lyptic Vision," or rather series of visions, the future
of Egypt is placed before him, in some detail, during
304

NOTICES IN DANIEL. 305

a space of some century and a half, from about B.C.
323 to about B.C. 168.

It is scarcely necessary to say that the genuineness
and authenticity of the entire Book of Daniel have
been fiercely assailed, both in remote times and in our
own day. But the arguments of the assailants have
never been regarded as of any weight by the Church ;
and the Book has maintained its place in the Canon
through all ecclesiastical ages and throughout Chris-
tendom. It is impossible in a volume like the present
to enter into this great controversy, which has
employed the pens of more than twenty critics of
repute during the present century, and which cannot
be said to have been set at rest even by the admirable
labours of Auberlen, Hengstenberg, and Pusey. We
shall here, of necessity, assume the genuineness and
authenticity of the Book, and especially of the chapter
(ch. xi.) which bears upon the history of Egypt ; we
shall regard it, not as a vaticiniiim post eventum —
the composition of a nameless author in the time of
Antiochus Epiphanes — ^but as the genuine utterance
of Daniel himself in the year to which he assigns it —
" the first year of Darius the Mede " (ch. xi. i), or B.C.
538-7. As the prophecy is too long to be conveni-
ently treated as a whole, we shall break it up into
portions, and endeavour to show how far its various
parts are confirmed or illustrated by profane authors.

« Now I will shew thee the truth. Behold, there shall stand up yet
three kings in Persia ; and the fourth shall be far richer than they all ;
and by his strength through his riches he shall stir up all against the

3o6 BAB YL ON AND EG YPT.

realm of Giecia. And a mighty king shall stand up, that sh^all rule with
great dominion, and do according to his will, and when he shall stand
up, his kingdom shall be broken, and shall be divided toward the
four winds of heaven ; and not to his posterity, nor according to the
dominion which he ruled ; for his kingdom shall be plucked up,
even for others beside those." — Dan. xi. 2-4.

This first section of the prophecy has no direct
bearing upon Egypt. Its object is to bridge the inter-
val between the date of the vision and the point at
which the history of Egypt is to be taken up. The
date of the vision is B.C. 538-7, the first year of Darius
the Mede in Babylon, and the first of Cyrus (by whom
Darius had been set up) in Persia. Egyptian history
is to be taken up from b. c. 323, at which point, after
a long period of subjection to Persia, Egypt became
once more an independent and important kingdom.
What are to be the main events, the great land-marks,
of the interval ? The angel who speaks to Daniel
thus enumerates them, (i) There will be three kings
in Persia, followed by a fourth richer and stronger
than any of them, who will lead a great expedition
into Greece. (2) A mighty king will stand up, greater
apparently then even the Persian kings, who will " rule
with great dominion, and do according to his will."
(3) After this king has " stood up " for a while, his
kingdom will be broken, " divided toward the four
winds of heaven," not descending to his posterity,
either as a whole, or in any of its fragments, but fall-
ing into the hands of '* others beside those," i. ^., of
persons not his descendants. Now, profane history

NOTICES IN DANIEL. 307

relates ^ that three kings ruled in Persia after Cyrus the
Great, viz., Cambyses (from b. c. 529 to b. c. 522), Bardes
or Smerdis (during seven months of B.C. 522), and
Darius, the son of Hystaspes (from b. c. 521 to B.C. 486);
and that these were then followed by Xerxes, the son of
Darius,^ under whom Persia was at the height of its
power and prosperity, until in his fifth year he " stirred
up all against the realm of Grecia," and made that great
expedition, which still remains one of the most marvel-
lous events in the world's entire history. This expe-
dition fell into B. c. 480, and was followed by a gradual
diminution of Persian power, and by wars of no great
moment, until, in b.c 335, a " mighty king" stood up,
viz., Alexander the Great, who ruled a greater dominion
than had been held by any previous monarch, since it
reached from the Adriatic to the Sutlej, and from the
Danube to Syene. The wide sovereignty and auto-
cratic pride of Alexander are well expressed by the
words " that shall rule with great dominion and do
according to his will" (ver. 3) ; for Alexander brooked
no restraint, and was practically a more absolute despot
than any Persian king had ever been. At his death,
as is well known, his kingdom was *' broken up."
Though he left behind him an illegitimate son, Hercu-
les, and had also a posthumous child by Roxana,
called Alexander, yet neither of these ever succeeded
to any portion of his dominions. These fell at first to

^ See especially Herod., ii. I ; iii. 67, 88, confirmed by the Behistun
inscription.

2 Herod, vii. 4 et seqq.

3o8 BAB YL ON AND E G YPT.

the ten generals, Ptolemy, Pithon, Antigonus, Eumenes,
Leonnatus, Lysimachus, Menander, Asander, Philotas,
Laomedon, and ultimately to Ptolemy, Seleucus, Anti-
pater, Antigonus, Eumenes^ Clitus, and Cassander.

" And the king of the south shall be strong, and one of his princes
[and he] shall be strong above him, and have dominion ; his dominion
shall be a great dominion. And in the end of years they shall join
themselves together ; for the king's daughter of the south shall come to
the king of the north to make an a.greement ; but she shall not retain
the power of the arm ; neither shall he stand, nor his ann ; but she
shall be given up and they that brought her, and he that begat her, and
he that strengthened her in these times." (Dan. xi. 5, 6.)

That the King of Egypt is meant by " the King of
the South " might be presumed from the fact that
Egypt formed the most southern portion of the
dominions of Alexander;^ but it is placed beyond
dispute or cavil by the mention of Egypt as the
country to which the King of the South carried his
captives, in verse 8. Profane history shows us that,
after the death of Alexander (b. c. 323), Ptolemy Lagi,
who had governed Egypt as Alexander's lieutenant,
from its conquest (b.c. 332) assumed the regal autho-
rity, and after a little time the regal name, in that
country, and ruled it from B.C. 323 to B.C. 283 — a
space of forty years.^ He is justly characterised as
** strong," since he was able to enlarge his original

^ The mouths of the Indus are about parallel with the most southern
portion of Egypt, but though visited by Alexander, they can hardly be
regarded as within his permanent dominions.

^Grote, "History of Greece," vol. viii., p. 533; Heeren, "Manual
of Ancient History," p. 249.

NO TICKS IN DA NIEL. 309

territories by the addition of Phoenicia, Palestine,
Cyprus, and the Cyrenaica; and, though he was some-
times defeated, he was upon the whole one of the most
warlike and successful of the princes among whom
Alexander's kingdom was partitioned. Another,
however, of the princes is truly said to have been
''strong above him." The Syrian was undoubtedly
the greatest of the kingdoms into which the Mace-
donian monarchy became broken up ; and Seleucus
Nicator, its first ruler, was a more powerful sovereign
than Ptolemy Lagi. Seleucus ruled from the Medi-
terranean to the Indus and from the Jaxartes to the
Indian Ocean, having thus a territory five or six times
as large as that of Ptolemy. His dominion was
emphatically " a great dominion." It was the repre-
sentative in Western Asia of the Great Monarchy
which had existed in that region from 4:he time of
Nimrod, and exceeded in dimensions every such mon-
archy except the Persian. Seleucus and Ptolemy
Lagi maintained on the whole friendly relations ; and
the struggle between the kings of the north and of the
south was deferred to the reigns of their successors.

Daniel's statement that " in the end of years " the
kings of the north and of the south " shall join them-
selves together " implies a previous rupture and
struggle, which is found to have taken place in the
reigns of Ptolemy II. (Philadelphus) and Antiochus
Soter. A permanent jealousy, and many occasional
causes of quarrel, set the two powers in hostility the
one to the other; and in B.C. 269 Antiochus made an

3IO BAB YL ON AND E G YPT.

expedition against Egypt, which resulted in complete
failure/ leaving a stain on the Syrian arms which it
was regarded as necessary to efface. Antiochus II.
(Theus) consequently renewed the war in b. c. 260, and
a long contest followed without any very decided
advantage to either side, until, in B.C. 250, negotiations
for peace were set on foot — the two kings " associated
themselves" (marginal rendering), and in the following
year (b. c. 269) it was arranged that Ptolemy II. should
give his daughter, Berenice, in marriage to Antiochus
Theus, who repudiated his previous wife, Laodice, in
order to make way for her.^ The wedding took place ;
and thus " the king's daughter of the south came to
the king of the north to make (i. e., cement) an agree-
ment" (verse 6). But the well-meant attempt at peace
failed. In B.C. 247, on the death of Ptolemy II.,
Antiochus Theus repudiated his Egyptian wife, and
recalled Laodice, who shortly poisoned her husband,
and caused Berenice also to be put to death. ^ Thus
this princess " did not retain the power of the arm "
(/. e., the secular authority) ; neither did her husband
retain his power, or "stand." The attempted arrange-
ment entirely fell through. Berenice herself and her
son (" he whom she brought forth," marginal rendering)
suffered death ; and the entire party concerned in the
transaction were discredited and placed under a cloud.

^ Heeren, p. 236 ; Smith, " Diet, of Greek and Roman Biography,"
vol. iii., p. 586.

=^ Hieronym. ed. Dan. xi. 6; Polyb. v. 18, \ 10 ; Athen. " Deipn."
ii., p. 45.

^ Heeren, 1. s. c.

NOTICES IN DANIEL.

311

" But out of a branch of her roots shall one stand up in his estate,
which shall come with an araiy, and shall enter into the fortress of the
king of the north, and shall deal against them, and shall prevail ; and
shall also carry captives into Egypt their gods, with their princes, and
with their precious vessels of silver and of gold; and he shall continue
more years than the king of the north." (Dan. xi. 7, 8.)

There are some errors of translation in this passage
which require to be removed before its statements can
be properly compared with those of profane historians.
Modern criticism thus renders the passage : ^ *' But a
branch of her roots shall rise up in his place, which shall
come against the host, and enter into the strong places
of the king of the north, and shall deal against them, and
shall prevail ; and shall also carry captive into Egypt
their gods, with their images, and with their precious
vessels of silver and of gold, and [then] for some years
he shall stand aloof from the king of the north."
History tells us that a branch from the same roots as
Berenice, her brother Ptolemy Euergetes, in the year
after her murder (b. c. 245), made war upon Seleucus
11. (Callinicus), the son of Antiochus Theus and
Laodice, who was implicated in the bloody deed, and,
having invaded Syria, made himself master of vari-
ous "strong places" in the country, as especially
of Seleucia near Antioch, a most important city.^
He " prevailed " in the wars most completely,
capturing Antioch, and reducing to temporary sub-
jection the whole of the Eastern provinces — Meso-

1 See the " Speaker's Commentar)^" vol. vi., pp. 374, 375.
2Polyb., v. 58, I II.

312 BAB YL ON AND E G YPT.

potamia, Babylonia, Susiana, Media, and Persia.^ He
stated in an inscription which he set up at Adule,
that among the treasures which he carried off from
Asia were holy relics {Itpa) removed from Egypt by
the Persians,^ and no doubt, together with these, he
would, like other conquerors, include in his booty the
" gods and images " of the defeated nations. After
the war had lasted four years, Euergetes " stood
aloof" from the king of the north, consenting, on
account of some internal troubles in his own dominions,
to conclude a truce with Callinicus for ten years.

" But his sons shall be stirred up, and shall assemble a multitude of
great forces; and one shall certainly come, and overflow, and pass
through ; then shall he return, and be stirred up, even to his fortress.
And the king of the south shall be moved with choler, and shall come
forth and fight with him, even with the king of the north : and he shall
set forth a great multitude ; but the multitude shall be given into his
hand. And when he hath taken away the multitude, his heart shall be
lifted up; and he shall cast down many ten thousands ; but he shall not
be strengthened by it." (Dan. xi. 10-12.)

The construction of the Hebrew is such as to
render it uncertain, whose sons are intended in the
opening clause of this passage, whether those of the
king of the north or of the south. The nexus, how-
ever, of the clause with those that follow makes it
tolerably clear that the attack this time is on the part
of the northern monarch, against whom the king of
the south *' comes forth, moved with choler " (verse

* See the " Inscription of Adule," quoted by Clinton (** Fasti Helli-
nici," vol. iii., page 383, note).
2 Ibid.

NO TICES IN DANIEL. 3 1 3

11), anxious to repel what he regards as an unpro-
voked assault. Now Callinicus had two sons, who
reigned one after the other — Seleucus III. (Ceraunus)
from B.C. 226 to 223, and Antiochus III. (the Great)
from B.C. 223 to 187. Of these the elder, Seleucus, is
said by Jerome ^ to have invaded Egypt in combi-
nation with his brother, Antiochus, and to have wa^ed
a war with Euergetes ; but the silence of profane
historians throws some doubt on this statement.
" One " of the sons, however, Antiochus the Great,
most *^ certainly," " came, and overflowed, and passed
through " the territories of Egypt, attacking Ptolemy
Philopator, the son of Euergetes, with great vigour
in B.C. 219, and in B.C. 218 repeatedly defeating his
forces, and conquering the greater part of Palestine,
including Samaria and Gilead.^ From these conquests
he "returned" for the winter to "his fortress" of
Ptolema'is,^ whence he made great efforts to have
everything in readiness for a further attack upon his
adversary in the ensuing year. In the spring he set
forth on his march southward, passed through Gaza,
and encamped at Raphia (now Refah), a small town
near the coast, on the road to Egypt. ^ Meanwhile
Philopator, " moved with choler," had quitted Alex-
andria, at the head of an army of 75,000 men,
supported by seventy-three elephants, and had marched
to Pelusium, whence, after resting a few days, he
proceeded along the coast to Rhinocolura, and thence

1 " Comment, in Dan,," xi. 10. 2 polyb., v. 59-70.

3 Ibid., V. 71, § II. * Ibid., V. 80, § 4.

314

BABYLON AND EGYPT.

toward Raphia, where he encamped over against the
army of Antiochus. The Syrian forces were some-
what less numerous than his own, amounting to only
68,000, but they were stronger in cavalry and in
elephants. After some unimportant skirmishing, the
two hosts engaged each other ; and though the Syrian
right defeated the Eg^'ptian left, and the Asiatic ele-
phants of Antiochus proved greatly superior to the
African ones of his adversary, yet the battle resulted
in a decisive victory for the Egyptians, who slew ten
thousand of the enemy, and took above four thousand
prisoners.^ The Syrian " multitude" was thus ** given
into Ptolemy's hand," and a portion of it " taken
away " into Egypt. His victory naturally " lifted up"
Ptolemy's *' heart ;" he was greatly elated, and is said
after the battle to have " abandoned himself to a life
of licentiousness."" No real advantage resulted to
him from his having " cast down many ten thousands ;"
the Syrian kingdom remained more powerful than his
own, and was certain to revenge the defeat of Raphia
when a favourable opportunity offered.

" The king of the north shall return, and shall set forth a multitude
greater than the former, and shall certainly come after certain years
with a great army and with much riches. And in those times shall
there many stand up against the king of the south ; also the robbers of
thy people shall exalt themselves to establish the vision ; but they shall
fall. So the king of the north shall come and cast up a mount and
take the most fenced cities, and the arms of the south shall not with-
stand, neither his chosen people, neither shall there be any strength to
withstand. But he that cometh against him shall do according to his

^ Polyb., V. 81-86. 2 u Speaker's Commentary," vol. vi., p, 376.

NOTICES IN DANIEL. 315

own will, and none shall stand before him ; and he shall stand in the
glorious land, which by his hand shall be consumed. He shall also set
his face to enter with the strength of his whole kingdom, and upright
ones with him ; thus shall he do ; and he shall give him the daughter
of women, corrupting her ; but she shall not stand on his side, neither
be for him." (Dan. xi. 13-17.)

In B. c. 204, thirteen years after the battle of Raphia,
Antiochus the Great *' returned " to the attack upon
Egypt. Having made alhance with Phihp III. of
Macedon,^ he invaded Caele-Syria and Palestine with
a great army,^ and with the good v/ill of the inhab-
itants, whom the cruelties and exactions of Philopator
had disgusted, occupied the entire region to the
borders of Egypt — " the robbers (rather " captains ")
of the Jewish people joining with him to establish the
vision." A turn in the war subjected these rebels to
the vengeance of Ptolemy, who recovered Jerusalem
in B.C. 200, and took severe measures against the
inhabitants.^ Two years later Antiochus once more
gathered his forces, and marched southward. One
after another the strongholds of Syria and Palestine
fell into his hands. " The arms of the south " were
not able to "withstand" him.^ At Panias, near the
sources of the Jordan, he entirely defeated Scopas,
the chief general of the Egyptian monarch ; ^ after
which he besieged him in Sidon, which he took, and a

^ Polyb. XV. 20 ; Liv. xxxi. 14.

2 Smith, " Diet, of the Bible," vol. i., p. 74.

3 Joseph., " Ant. Jud.," xii. 3, \ 3.

* Appian, '' Syriaca," \ i ; Liv. xxxiii. 19.
5 Polyb., xvi. 18, ^ 2 ; 39, ^ 3 ; Joseph. 1. s. c.

3i6 BAB YL ON AND EC YPT.

little later re-took Jerusalem. He then " completely
established himself in Palestine," occupying the glor-
ious land," which was no doubt *' consumed " by
having to furnish supplies for his army. But he did
not press forward into Egypt. He " set his face " to
establish "equal conditions" (verse 17, marginal
rendering). He arranged a marriage between his
daughter, Cleopatra, and Ptolemy Epiphanes, who had
succeeded his father, Philopator, pledging himself to
give over Caele-Syria and Palestine to Egypt as her
dowry. ^ He had no intention, however, of fulfilling
this part of the contract. The provinces were not
made over; and Egypt was rather exasperated than
ameliorated by the transaction. Cleopatra herself,
instead of maintaining her father's interests, opposed
them. Declining to " stand on his side," or " be for
him," she maintained her husband's rights, and joined
with him in looking to Rome for their vindication
and establishment.

* Polyb., xxviii. 17, § 7 ; Appian, " Syriaca," \ 4.

CHAPTER XXIV.

FURTHER NOTICES OF EGYPT IN DANIEL.

" After this shall he turn his face unto the isles, and shall take many :
but a prince for his own behalf shall cause the reproach offered by him
to cease; without his own reproach he shall cause it to turn upon him.
Then he shall turn his face toward the fort of his own land ; but he
shall stumble and fall, and not be found. Then shall stand up in his
estate a raiser of taxes in the glory of the kingdom ; but within few
days he shall be destroyed, neither in anger, nor in battle." (Daniel,
ch. xi., verses 18-20.)

In the prophetical Books of the Old Testament,
and even in some of the historical ones (Gen. x. 5 ;
Esth. X. i), the expression translated "the isles "or
" the islands," designates primarily the shores and isles
of European Greece — the " maritime tracts " which in-
vited the colonist and the conqueror to brave the terrors
of the deep, and journey westward from Asia in search
of " fresh woods and pastures new." Antiochus the
Great, shortly after concluding his peace with Philo-
pator, undertook an aggressive movement in this
direction.^ Crossing the Hellespont in B.C. 197, he
took possession of the Chersonese with its city of
Lysimachla. Five years later, having made alliance

* See Liv. xxxv. 23, 43 ; Polyb. xviii. 32.

3 1 8 BABYLON AND EGYPT.

with the CEtolians, he moved into central Greece,
landing at Demetrias, and soon afterwards making
himself master of Chalcis, thereby throwing out a
challenge to the Romans, which they were not slow
to accept. Rome could not allow the establishment
of an Asiatic power in Europe ; and her " prince " for
the time being, the consul M. Acilius Glabrio, soon
" caused the reproach " which Antiochus had " offered "
the Romans, *' to cease," turning it back upon Anti-
ochus himself^ by the decisive victory of Thermopylae.^
Antiochus was forced to quit Greece in haste, ^ and
** turned his face toward the fort " (/. e. the various
strongholds) " of his own land," whither he retreated
in the autumn of B.C. 191. But Rome followed up
her advantage. The Roman admiral, ^milius, swept
the fleet of Antiochus from the sea.^ Her generals,
the two Scipios, Asiaticus and Africanus, invaded Asia
in force; and in B.C. 190 was fought the great battle
of Magnesia,^ which at once and forever established
the predominance of the Roman arms over those of
the Syrian kingdom, and made Rome arbiter of the
destinies of the East. At Magnesia Antiochus "stum-
bled and fell " with a fall from which there was no
recovery, either for himself or for his kingdom. It did
not suit Rome at once to enter into possession ; but from

^ This seems to be the true meaning of the last clause of verse 18.
(See " Speaker's Commentary," vol. vi., p. 379.)

^Liv. xxxvi. 18, 19. 3 Ibid., xxxvi. 21. ^Ibid., xxxvii. 30.

^Polyb. xxi. 13; xxii. 8; Liv. xxxvii. 42; Appian, "Syriaca,"

NOTICES IN DANIEL, 319

the date of the Magnesian defeat Syria lay at her mercy
and was practically her vassal. Shortly afterwards
(b.c. 187) Antiochus "was not found." He made an
expedition into the Eastern provinces,^ to collect money
for the payment of the Roman war contribution, and
never returned from it. P^umour said that his exac-
tion^ provoked a tumult in the distant Elymais, and that
he fell a victim to the fury of the plundered people.^ He
was succeeded by his son, Seleucus IV. (Philopator),
who seems to be called "a raiser of taxes" on account
of the burdens which the weight of the Roman
indemnity compelled him to lay on his subjects,
and "the glory of the kingdom" in derision.^ He
was a weak and undistinguished monarch, whose
short reign of eleven years was wholly uneventful.
His treasurer, Heliodorus, murdered him treacher-
ously in cold blood, ^ not having any grievance against
him, but simply in the hope of succeeding to his
dominions. Thus he was " destroyed, not in anger,
nor in battle," by an ambitious subject.

" And in his estate shall stand up a vile person, to whom they shall
not give the honour of the kingdom : but he shall come in peaceably,
and obtain the kingdom by flatteries. And with the arms of a flood
shall they be overflown before him; yea, also the prince of the covenant.
And after the league made with him he shall work deceitfully ; for he
shall come up, and shall become strong with a small people. He shall

1 Porphyr. ap. Euseb. " Chron. Can." I. 40, \ 12.

2 Justin, xxxii, 2; Strab. xvi., p, 744.

3 Our version gives "in the gloiy of the kingdom;" but the word
"in" is wanting in the original.
*Appian, "Syriaca," \ 45.

320 BAB YL ON AND EGYPT.

enter peaceably even upon the fattest places of the province ; and he
shall do that vi^hich his fathers have not done, nor his fathers' fathers ;
he shall scatter among them the prey, and spoil, and riches ; yea, and
he shall forecast his devices against the strongholds, even for a time."
(Dan. xi. 21-24.)

Antiochus Epiphanes, who succeeded his brother,
Seleucus IV., is almost certainly intended by the " vile
person " of this passage. He was a man of an extraor-
dinary character. Dean Stanley calls him one of those
strange characters in whom an eccentricity touching
insanity on the left and genius on the right combined
with absolute power and lawless passion to produce a
portentous result, thus bearing out the two names by
which he was known — Epiphanes — " the Brilliant," and
Epitnanes — " the Madman." ^ He was " a fantastic
creature, without dignity or self-control, who carica-
tured the manners and dress of the august Roman
magistrates, startled young revellers by bursting in on
them with pipe and horn, tumbled with the bathers on
the slippery marble pavement, and in the procession
which he organized at Daphne, appeared riding in and
out on a hack pony, playing the part of chief waiter,
mountebank, and jester."^ He was not the legitimate
heir to the throne ; and " the honour of the kingdom"
was in no way formally conferred on him. Nor did he
establish himself by force of arms. On the contrary,
he " came in peaceably," under the auspices of Eu-
menes of Pergamos,^ and " obtained the kingdom " by

' Stanley, " Lectures on the Jewish Church," Am. Ed., vol. iii., p. 254.
^Ibid. SAppian, 1. s. c.

- NOTICES IN DANIEL. 321

bribes, cajolery, and " flatteries." He courted the
favour of the Syrian lower classes, of Rome, and of
the Hellenising party among the Jews. At a later
date " with the arms of a flood " he " overflowed," and
carried all before him, sweeping through Caele-Syria
and Palestine into Egypt,^ and receiving the submis-
sion of Jason, ^ the High-Priest of the Jews, or "prince
of the covenant," who " made a league " with him,
engaging to support his interests in Judaea, and to pay
him an annual tribute of 440 silver talents. Anti-
ochus, however, after this league, "worked deceitfully,"
transferring the High Priesthood from Jason to his
brother Menelaus on receipt of a bribe, and forcing
Jason to become a fugitive from his country.^ After
this he was able, through the support of Menelaus, to
" become strong " in Palestine, without maintaining
there more than a " small " army. He entered peace-
ably upon the " fattest places of the province," his
authority being generally recognized throughout the
fertile tract betv/een Syria Proper and Egypt, though it
belonged of right to Ptolemy. That he maintained
his influence in the tract by means of a lavish expen-
diture of money, though not distinctly stated by
profane historians, is probable enough, since it was
certainly the method by which he soon afterwards
maintained it in Egypt.*

" And he shall stir up his power and his courage against the king of
the south with a great army ; and the king of the south shall be stirred

1 1 Mac. i. 17 ; Appian, "Syriaca," \ 66.

22 Mac. iv. 7-10. ^2 Mac. iv. 23-26. *Polyb. xxviii. 17.

21

322 BAB YL ON AND EG YPT.

up to battle with a very great and mighty army ; but he shall not
stand ; for they shall forecast devices against him. Yea, they that feed
of the portion of his meat shall destroy him, and his army shall over-
flow ; and many shall fall down slain. And both these kings' hearts
shall be to do mischief, and they shall speak lies at qne table ; but it
shall not prosper; for yet the end shall be at the time appointed." (Dan.
xi. 25-27.)

Epiphanes invaded Egypt several times during the
earlier portion of his reign. The prophetic vision
vouchsafed to Daniel did not very clearly distinguish
between the several attacks. If the present passage is
to be assigned to any particular year, it must be to
B.C. 171, when Epiphanes "entered Egypt with a great
multitude, with chariots, and elephants, and horsemen,
and with a great navy" (i Mac. i. 17). Egypt was
then under the sovereignty of Ptolemy VI. (Philo-
metor), who, however, was still a minor, under the
tutelage of Eulaeus and Lennaeus, who received the
royal authority as regents.^ These chiefs collected as
large a force as they could to resist the Syrian
monarch ; but the result of the battle which took
place near Pelusium,^ was the complete defeat of the
Egyptians, and the temporary subjection of the larger
part of Egypt to the authority of Antiochus. Ptolemy
Philometor fell into his enemy's hands, but was hon-
ourably treated, the policy of Antiochus being to
cajole Philometor into believing that he was his friend,
bent on supporting his authority against that of his
brother, Physcon, who had a strong party in the

iPolyb, xxviii. 17; Hieronym. ed. Dan. xi.
2 Liv. xliv. 19 ; Polyb. xxvii. 17.

NOTICES IN DANIEL,

323

country, especially at Alexandria. We have no full
account, in any profane writer, of the history of the
period ; but it is quite possible that the loss of the
battle of Pelusium was owing to treachery on the part
of some of Philometor's ministers (verse 26) ; and it
is certain that in the intercourse between him and
Epiphanes each king was trying to deceive and overr
reach the other (verse 27). Nothing decisive was
accomplished, however, as yet ; ** the end " was
reserved for " the time appointed " (ibid.).

" Then shall he return into his land with great riches ; and his heart
shall be against the holy covenant ; and he shall do exploits ; and return
to his own land. At the time appointed he shall return, and come
toward the south ; but it shall not be as the former, or as the latter "
(rather " it shall not be at the latter time as at the former "). " For the
ships of Chittim shall come against him ; therefore he shall be grieved
and leturn, and have indignation against the holy covenant. (Dan.
xi. 28-30.)

That Epiphanes on his first invasion of Egypt ob-
tained a considerable booty, which he carried off into
Syria, is confirmed by the First Book of Maccabees
(i. 19). That on his return, or soon after, his "heart
was against the holy covenant" appears both from
I Mac. i. 20-24 and from 2 Mac. v. 11-21. That
after one or two years, he "returned, and once more
came toward the south," is also certain, as likewise
that he did not fare this time so well as previously,
since, though success attended his arms, he was
"compelled by the ambassadors of various northern
kingdoms," supported by the "ships of Chittim" —

324

BAB YL ON AND E G YPT.

i. €., the fleets of Rome and Rhodes, to surrender
against his will almost all the advantages that he had
gained.^ This time he returned from Egypt in extreme
ill temper, and vented his spleen on the Jews by
renewed attacks and oppressions.

" And at the time of the end shall the king of the south push at him ;
and the king of the north shall come against him," (/. e., against the
king of the south,) " like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horse-
men, and with many ships, and he shall enter into the countries, and
shall overflow and pass over. And he shall enter also into the glorious
land, and many countries shall be overthrown ; but these shall escape
out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of
Amnion. He shall stretch forth also his hand upon the countries ; and
the land of Egypt shall not escape. But he shall have power over the
treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of
Egypt ; and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps. But
tidings out of the east and out of the north shall trouble him ; there-
fore shall he go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make
away many. And he shall plant the tabernacle of his palace between
the seas in the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end,
and none shall help him." (Dan. xi. 40-45.)

The closing scene of the war between the kings of
the north and of the south — Epiphanes and the
brothers Philometor and Physcon — came in B.C. 168.
Epiphanes having withdrawn into Syria for the winter,
leaving his supposed ally, Philometor, at Memphis,
and his open enemy, Physcon, in Alexandria, was
staggered by the information, that, during his absence,
the hostile brothers had made up their differences, and
that Physcon had agreed to receive Philometor into

*Ewald, "History of the Jews," vol. v., p. 297.

NOTICES IN DANIEL. 325

Alexandria/ at which place the reconciled enemies
were now holding their courts conjointly. An em-
bassy, which met Epiphanes, at Rhinocolura, politely
suggested to him, that the end for which he had been
waging war — the establishment of Philometor's author-
ity — was accomplished, and that nothing remained for
him but to sheath his sword and return home. This
was felt by Antiochus as a deadly blow struck at his
schemes — a " push " on the part of the " king of the
south," which required to be met by the promptest
and most energetic measures. He at once broke up
his camp, and marched into Egypt as an open enemy.
With the speed of a " whirlwind," he advanced upon
Pelusium, "with chariots, and with horsemen, and
with many ships " (verse 40) ; thence, in a more
leisurely fashion, he proceeded to march upon Alex-
andria. Egypt generally submitted to him. The
" treasures of gold and silver," and " all the precious
things of Egypt " were placed at his disposal by the
inhabitants — contingents of Egyptian troops were
pressed into his service,^ and " the Libyans and the
Ethiopians," long employed as auxiliaries by the
monarchs of Egypt, whether native or foreign, were
(as a matter of course) " at his steps " (verse 43). He
was drawing near Alexandria with the intention of
renewing the siege, and with an almost certain prospect
of reducing the place within a few months, when an
unexpected obstacle was interposed. The prophetic
vision speaks of " tidings out of the east and out of

^ Livy, xlv. II. ^ Ibid., xlv. 12.

326 BAB YL ON AND E G YPT.

the north." The " tidings " told of the near approach
of a small body of Romans. These proved to be
ambassadors. At their head was a man, who has left
an imperishable name in history, C. Popillius Loenas.
This bold and haughty envoy, approaching with his
small retinue, the master of countless legion held out
to him a small tablet, containing a short senatorial
decree. " Read this," he said, " at once." The
cautious Greek cast his eye over the document, and
perceived that it was a positive command to him to
desist from hostilities against those who were " the
friends of the Roman people." Unwilling to see the
prize of victory snatched from his grasp at the
moment of success, and hoping to temporize, Anti-
ochus replied, that he would consult his friends on the
senatorial proposals and let the envoys have an answer.
Popillius had a wand in his hand, the emblem of the
ambassadorial office. Hastily tracing with it a circle
on the sand round Antiochus, " Consult," he said,
" and give your answer before you overstep this line."
The Syrian monarch was so astonished and so dis-
mayed that he replied, with the utmost meekness, " I
will do as the Senate decrees." ^ Thus were baffled and
confounded the ambitious designs of the " great king,"
who regarded himself as the successor of Cyrus,
Darius, and Xerxes, and the living representative of
Alexander the Great. A brief sentence uttered by a
Roman civilian brought a great war to an end and
prohibited its renewal.

^ Polyb. xxix. II, \ i-6; Liv. xlv. 12.

NOTICES IN DANIEL. 327

Epiphanes retired from Egypt in greater dudgeon
than ever, " deeply grieved and groaning in spirit," as
Polybius says,^ and sought a species of consolation in
increased severity towards the Jews. It was now that
he accomplished his last acts of impiety and cruelty
upon that unfortunate people, sending against them
" Apollonius, that detestable ringleader, with an army
of two and twenty thousand, commanding him to slay
all those who were in their best age, and to sell the
women and 'the younger sort "(2 Mac. v. 24), and
soon afterwards polluting the temple in Jerusalem,
and wholly forbidding the exercise of the Jewish
religion. It was this issue to the wars between the
" kings of the north and of the south " that gave to
them their great importance in the theocratic history,
and rendered them a fitting subject for so long a
prophecy as that which we have been considering.
Their entire result was, to bring out, more strongly
than it had ever been brought out before, the Roman
influence over the affairs of the East, to intensify the
antagonism between Rome and Syria, to place Egypt
under a permanent Roman protectorate, and to make
Rome the natural ally and defender of every petty
nationality which had any inclination to assert itself
against Syria, and could do so with the least hope of
success. The close connection between the Roman
and Jewish peoples, which, beginning with the embassy
of Judus Maccabaeus in B.C. 161 (i Mac. viii. 17-32)
terminated in the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus

^/5apwd//£vof /zfi' /cci cTifvwv xxix. II, ^ 8.

328 BAB YLON AND EG YPT.

in A. D. 70, was the consequence of the Syro-Egyptian
struggle, and especially of the war between Epiphanes
and Philometor, which therefore worthily occupies a
very considerable space in the prophetical synopsis
of Daniel.

The ultimate fates of Egypt and Babylon, as repre-
sented to us in Scripture, offer a remarkable contrast.
Babylon is to "become heaps" (Jer. li. 37) ; to be
"wholly desolate" (ib. 1. 13); "not to be inhabited"
(Isa. xiii. 20.) Egypt is to be a " base kingdom "
(Ezek. xxix. 14) ; " the basest of the kingdoms " (ib.
verse 1 5) ; but still to remain a kingdom. It is not
" to exalt itself any more above the nations ; " it is to be
" diminished ; " it is no more to have " any rule over the
nations " (ib.), or to be " the confidence of the house
of Israel." But it is to maintain a certain position
among the powers of the earth, a certain separateness,
a certain low consideration. Now this is exactly what
has been the general position of Egypt from her con-
quest by Cambyses to the present day. Under the
Persians she was a sort of outlying kingdom, rather
than an ordinary satrapy. She frequently revolted
and established a temporary independence, but was
soon coerced into subjection. During the earlier por-
tion of the Ptolemaic period, she rose to considerable
influence and prosperity ; but still she was never
more than a second-rate power. Syria always, and
Macedonia sometimes, was superior to her in extent of
dominion, power and importance (Dan. xi. 5). Rome
made her a province, but a province with a certain

NOTICES IN DANIEL. 329

separateness, under regulations which were peculiar.^
Under the Mohammedans, whether Arabs, Saracens, or
Turks, she has still for the most part been secondary,
either an actual dependency on some greater state, or
at any rate overshadowed by rivals of superior dignity.
A veil hangs over the future ; but, so far as human
sagacity can forecast, there seems to be little likelihood
of any vital change in her position. With peculiar
characteristics and an isolated position, she must
almost of necessity maintain her separate and distinct
individuality, even though she become a dependency
on a European power. On the other hand, she has
exhibited under recent circumstances no elements of
greatness, and remains emphatically " a base king-
dom " — if not even "the basest of the kingdoms."
There seems to be no elements out of which her
revival and reconstitution as a great kingdom could
be possible.

1 Tacit "Ann." ii. 59.

28*

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